


Something human

by imaginaryDemons



Series: the trashcan ship [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, But I will go down with this ship, Did I say slow burn?, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Smut, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, Gavin Reed Redemption, Gavin900, M/M, Multi, Self-Hatred, Slow Burn, bi pride, i don't know where i am going with this, no beta we die like men, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-06-20 07:58:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15529707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginaryDemons/pseuds/imaginaryDemons
Summary: Gavin had a lot of issues, this much he knew, but he never would have thought that another android which was almost a spitting image of Connor would become one of them. The dedective was sure though, that he hated this and didn't deserveit





	1. Smooth criminal

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative chapter title: Plastic trees and emotions // ARE YOU ALL OK?
> 
> Before you start reading I just wanted you to know this is my first fanfic since about like 10 years and I haven't written anything for that time either. So if this isn't as high quality as you expect I am sorry. Also my native language is German so I grant nothing. (on that note, if you find any mistakes, feel free to drop me a line)  
> I also don't know where I am going with this yet and I am not too far in the game so this might be OOC(!), I just got hooked on this trashcan of a ship and I wanted to be part of this.  
> Okay, this note is long enough ... have fun reading and suffering with me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin had a lot of issues, this much he knew, but he never would have thought that another android which was almost a spitting image of Connor would become one of them. The dedective was sure though, that he hated this and didn't deserve it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative chapter title: Plastic trees and emotions // ARE YOU ALL OK?
> 
> Before you start reading I just wanted you to know this is my first fanfic since about like 10 years and I haven't written anything for that time either. So if this isn't as high quality as you expect I am sorry. Also my native language is German so I grant nothing. (on that note, if you find any mistakes, feel free to drop me a line)  
> I also don't know where I am going with this yet and I am not too far in the game so this might be OOC(!), I just got hooked on this trashcan of a ship and I wanted to be part of this.  
> Okay, this note is long enough ... have fun reading and suffering with me.

Gavin groaned, he felt a headache crawling up his sinuses. 

Slowly making its way to his brain, giving him a feeling of nausea. In an attempt to ease the pain, he slowly massaged the bridge of his nose and his temples. He definitely had gone too far this time.  
The young man stayed in bed for ten more minutes, squinting his eyes shut and concentrating on his breathing. Once he felt like it was save to get up, he slowly pushed back his blanked and swung his feet out of his bad sitting up in the same motion.  
A few seconds passed before Gavin stood up and made his way to the bathroom.  
He hoped that the warm shower would bring some release to his aching body.  
Once done he did feel better, even though the headache still felt like it compressed his brain.  
He made his way back to the bedroom to get dressed and put on some jeans a plain black shirt.  
“Good enough”, he thought to himself.  
Grabbing his phone, he looked at the time, it was 6.30 a.m., which meant he had a good 10 more minutes before he had to get to work at the precinct.  
Giving in to his usual habit he went into the kitchen to get coffee and then go and have a smoke outside.  
It was a cool autumn morning the leaves started turning all sorts of colours already and he could smell the humidity from the early morning fog in the air.  
Gavin loved autumn, he loved how the mood changed after a hot summer, how everything seemed to be gloomy and yet there was still so much energy buzzing in the atmosphere. Everything appeared not quite death yet.  
He sighed, that thought became dark quite quickly, maybe he _should_ see someone professional about his mood swings as his co-worker Chen had suggested to him multiple times already. Deep down he knew she was right and it wasn’t like he hadn’t had that thought hundreds of times already. Ever since his teenage hood he thought about talking to someone, opening up, trusting. But it was just that somehow, he never managed to actually get help. It felt wrong - he was used to rely solely on himself. Giving someone else power over him by sharing too much felt so incorrect.  
He sighed again, taking a last drag of his cigarette and then putting it into the ash tray that was standing on the windowsill.  
Slowly he made his way to the car, savouring every second before he had to return to the mess of his workplace. Ever since the android revolution took place there seemed to be even more attacks on them as some people felt further threatened by the thought that something so unnatural could have feelings. It just seemed so fake to them. He could understand.  
Okay, it was an open secret that Gavin himself despised those plastic tin cans with every fibre in his body … but still. No one had the right to kill someone, whether it was alive, conscious or whateverthefuck.  
There was a reason why he had chosen to go to the police after all. 

The detective got into the car, it was a BMW from the 6-series and even though it was older than him, it felt more reliant than those state-of-the art cars that drove themselves. He never was much of a trusting person anyway. He chuckled at the thought - today seemed to be a day for contemplating.  
Additionally, he liked the feeling of the old its smell. It was sort of a second home to him, especially since it once was his grand-fathers and reminded it of him.  
Gavin shook his head in attempt to get out of his mind, he didn’t want to get lost in it. Especially since the hangover made the overthinking worse.  
He _had_ gone to far.  
Making a mental note he pulled into the parking space and got out of the car.  
As he walked into the office it hit him again. Right.  
Steading himself he pulled his shoulders up, breath in deeply once again and started walking towards his table.  
“Good morning, detective Reed, I hope you had a good night’s rest?”  
_Man get that stick out of your ass, plastic prick._  
For a second he was simply considering ignoring his new partner, but a tiny Fowler in the back of his mind started to raise his index finger.  
Fucking shit.  
“Good … morning”, he answered reluctantly.  
“I have taken the freedom to look over our case already, so we could start as soon as possible”  
Get that fucking stick out of your ass.  
Instead of replying Gavin took a U-turn and went to the breakroom to get another coffee. He needed that.  
Thankfully the android didn’t follow him. Impatiently he started drumming on the counter.  
What had his life become to in a matter of 24-hours? He never thought he had to deal with another one of them. Not at his workplace and especially not as his … partner.  
He felt like throwing up in his own mouth.  
Holding the hot mug now, he shuffled back to his workspace, the android-thing still sitting opposite of his desk. He couldn’t suppress a quiet snarl.  
“So”, he said, putting the coffee on his table, “fill me in, dipshit”  
The thing grimaced just slightly at the cussing, but he didn’t seem to lose his stance.  
“A MP500 found in an ally-way, heavily damaged and disfigured”  
Gavin raised a brow. Again, he understood the hatred, but did people really think, that this would solve their issues?  
He took a sip from his cup, considering.  
“Anything else?”  
“The case was reported from the owner of the coffee-shop right next to the alleyway 10 minutes ago, but besides there being a ‘gruesome mess’ we haven’t got much information”  
Gavin sighed.  
“Well then, let’s go”, he said, getting up and putting his gun into his belt.  
The android didn’t make a notion to get up.  
“What are you waiting for? A special invitation? Or are you just stupid?”  
The android got up, ignoring his partners remark.  
“You don’t even know where we are going”  
“But you do … if I have to work with you, you can at least make yourself useful, right?”, with that, the detective walked out, back to his car.  
As the android saw the car, he raised a brow. The first real reaction of the day, Gavin realised.  
“Historic”, it said.  
Gavin got mad again.  
“Are you implying I am old, shithead?”  
“I would never, detective Reed”  
Of-fucking-curse it wouldn’t that thing was way too stuck up.  
“Okay, now shut the fuck up, and get in”  
Without another word, the android swiftly took the place next to his unfriendly partner.  
The rest of the drive both of them weren’t talking besides the android giving directions to the crime scene. It took them exactly 28 minutes and 42 seconds to get there.  
Reed parked the car at the side, got out and walked to the crime scene, as it really wasn’t hard to miss. He sighed for the like fourth time today, it was going to be one of those days. He kneeled close to the machine in front of him, slowly scanning the scene with his eyes.  
His android was quickly at his side, analysing the evidence.  
The human tried to puzzle the information together as well, as his plastic-roboter suddenly exhaled sharply.  
“What?”  
“She was raped”, was the short answer.  
“That’s unusual … How do you know?”  
“That’s not everything.”  
“Spit it out, Connor 2.0”  
“There is residue of human sperm.”  
“Then analyse the DNA and we have got our offender”  
“That’s the thing, I can’t … detective.”  
Gavin hated that he had to pull everything out of this thing’s nose or whatever non-human equivalent this was.  
“I swear, can you just tell me everything you know without me having to ask you every detail. I would like to keep or conversation to a minimum”  
The android snorted. The most human thing android saw doing this piece of plastic so far.  
“There is sperm, but there is no DNA, it somehow seems corrupted or some sorts”  
The android seemed at a loss, Gavin never thought he would be this confused.  
“H-how is this possible? How can something biological, something human be corrupted?”  
“I really don’t know, detective. I am sorry.” His LED turning a constant yellow.  
The human rubbed his nose again.  
“Do you have everything you could gather? Maybe the owner of the coffeeshop can give us more information”  
“I have everything, yes” the android responded, his LED still spinning yellow.  
Gavin got up, making his way towards the entrance.  
He walked right to the counter, an android greeting him with a friendly smile.  
What a fucking surprise.  
“What can I get you today?”  
“DPD, can ~~I~~ … we speak to the manager, please.”  
The androids’ eyes widened in surprise.  
“Of course,” she nodded quickly, “one moment please”  
A few heartbeats later a young blonde appeared in the door behind the counter.  
“Ah detectives, I have been expecting you. Come.”  
She waved her hand, signalling them to come behind to have a talk in private.  
Plastic-dick almost unnoticeably nodded to the android that let the team pass.  
Gavin was surprised that he hadn’t said a single word since they went in. He wasn’t really though, that thing probably still was trying to get behind the corrupted DNA issue.  
As soon as they were past the door frame, the blonde started talking.  
“Before you ask, I don’t know what happened, but I do know her. She has been a loyal customer ever since the revolution and she never seemed to have problems with anyone.”  
“Are you sure?”, Reed asked, “There wasn’t anything unusual?”  
“No, never. I saw her at 4 p.m. yesterday and that’s it. She got her usual soy latte and got out”  
Gavin sighed.  
The owner gave him a business card, “if there is anything just call me, I would love to help … I actually liked her”  
“We definitely will.”  
This wasn’t getting that anywhere. This was also utterly frustrating.  
“Do you want a coffee before you go?”, the owner now smiled, the sadness gone from her face.  
It was tempting but Gavin shook his head.  
“Okay”, she shrugged as he got back out to the front again, the plastic tree always close to his heels.  
Back in the car the detective almost worried that his ~~parasite~~ partner still hasn’t said a thing.  
“Yo, Ken, are you … okay?”  
The RK turned his face to him, there was no expression on it. None. It was completely striped of any emotion.  
“I think yes.”  
“Okay”, and with that Gavin continued to drive back to the police department.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew look at that rollercoaster (GAVIN STOP BEING A DICK!!)  
> I LITERALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM GOING WITH THIS BUT I AM HOOKED  
> i will try to update asap. I hope you are as intrigued as I am  
> also: again, if there are any mistakes feel free to tell me, as I am taking this as an opportunity to impove.


	2. c̵̋o̿ͬ͟r̍̃̐̈̈ͥ͂҉ŕͮ̽̃ͮ̎ͪȗ͋̑̈p̈́͠t̂ͧ̊͗ͯe̢ͦ̚d̅̈́̏̉̂

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They weren't getting anywhere, but Gavin at least could pull himself together.  
> Also that strange E-mail now was a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative chapter title: AAAAH this is so FRUSTRATING
> 
> Early update because I want to get somewhere and aaah.  
> I still have no idea where I am going with this  
> There is also a bit of graphic description of harm so, be aware.  
> I realised that I literally actually have no clue what I am doing here ... so call it creative freedom? I am sorry ^^"  
> Other than that ... enjoy :)

Back at the precinct, they had been 4.32 minutes faster, because Gavin was going slightly over the speed limit.  
The android was apparently still too distracted to scold him. Not, that he would have given a shit anyway.  
But Reed did begin to feel uneasy. Even though it hadn’t even been two days, this seemed unusual for the android. Connor didn’t behave that way – as far as he knew at least.  
He pulled the key out of the engine after he had turned it off and allowed him a glance at the prick next to him.  
Could androids get breakdowns? Probably. The revolution had changed everything, though he wasn’t sure, if his partner was even deviant. It sure didn’t act like it, it was as stuck up as ever.  
“You know, we will solve this eventually”, he said, staring out of the windshield. He didn’t know why he tried to calm that piece of shit, but maybe it was because the feeling of being stuck and sensation of the control slip away was all too familiar.  
At least that’s what he assumed the android was feeling.  
It took a few breaths of Gavin’s until RK900 answered.  
“I know, detective. I am just not used to being stuck. I am supposed to be superior, I am faster, more reliant and better than my predecessor.”  
Gavin snorted, knowing that feeling all too well too.  
“That’s what bigger brothers are for, you know. They are supposed to make you feel like you are a piece of shit”  
“Connor is not my brother though, just a less advanced model than I”  
“That’s not very nice of you to say, captain plastic”, the sarcastic undertone saturating his voice trough and trough.  
“I am just taking an example from you”  
Now it was looking at him, a small, merely visible smirk pulling at the edges of its mouth.  
With that Gavin got out, not without slamming the door of his car though. He walked up without waiting, directly to his desk. The now cold coffee still standing where he left it.  
He slumped into the chair and took a sip; good thing is he liked cold coffee. The taste seemed less full, but the bitterness increased.  
With one last swig he started to write down all the information they had gathered so far, which really wasn’t a lot. This was going to be a frustrating case.  
Finally, the android also arrived at its place.  
“What took you so long?”  
“I just needed a minute to process things, detective.”  
Gavin glanced at the things temple, the LED was back to a blue, even though it flickered back to yellow from time to time.  
“I’ve started collecting all the evidence, could you get anything else from the scan that you haven’t told me yet?”  
“She was murdered at 3.42 a.m., the suspect probably raped her when she was still alive, then he started scraping at her skin. I assume it was to cover any DNA he could have left and since that didn’t work out he started slowly burning her with a lighter.”  
“Why didn’t you tell me that before, dipshit?”  
“As you humans say: I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact, that we found human sperm and yet there is no DNA, or any other evidence that could lead us to the murderer. I used all my capacity to find something.”  
The robot grimaced. And Gavin couldn’t help but feel empathetic, but he pushed that thought away. That thing in front of him wasn’t really alive anyways, why would he give a fuck?  
He noted down what the Android told him, as Connor came over to them.  
“I’m sorry detective, do you have a minute?”  
“I am listening, what do you want?”, he renounced on insults this time. Partly because he didn’t want to get into another fight with Anderson and partly because Connor seemed to have something intriguing to say.  
“RK900 told me what you have found at the crime scene and I would like to put in my two cents, if that’s okay”  
Andersons pet really seemed to adapt more human customs day by day, interesting.  
“Sure, shoot, it’s not like I got anything to lose, right?”  
“What if it wasn’t what it seemed to be?”  
Gavin rose an eyebrow.  
“What I meant was, what if it isn’t actually human?”  
“But how would that be possible? We have never heard of anything like that before.”  
“True, but that doesn’t mean, that it isn’t possible, right?”, said Connor while shrugging.  
“We will have to find out.”  
This is so frustrating, why did Gavin have to deal with so much shit right now. Why can’t life cut him some slack for like once. But the tiny voice in his mind just laughed, because he knew, that this wasn’t how life works.  
Absentmindedly he had another sip from his coffee. They had to solve this case as soon as possible, otherwise he would actually go insane. Including the android, who still hasn’t made much of a noise.  
“Yo, Connor, do you know what is wrong with your plastic twin?”, he said while Connor had already turned to walk back to his desk.  
This made his partner angry, he could see the LED flash to red for a nanosecond.  
“You know, I am right here. Just talk to me directly. It’s enough that you treat me like trash, but that doesn’t mean, I am not a valid person.”  
“Jeez Louise.”  
But Gavin knew, it was right. He wouldn’t admit that aloud of course, but …  
Instead of that he got up and mumbled “I am getting another coffee”  
As he got back the android was standing.  
“I am sorry detective, I didn’t mean to snap at you. It was very unprofessional and won’t happen again”  
He waved his hand, as if he was professional himself. He silenced the mean voice in his head, that told Reed that plastic tree just wanted to make itself look better than him.  
They filed and where in thought for almost two hours as Reed threw his hands into the air exclaiming: “I am getting too old for this”  
This finally made Anderson take a stand “Yeah, and what am I then, Reed?”  
“Ancient”, he whispered and much to his surprise the Android let out a small and quiet laugh.  
It filled him with a sense of pride. He made ~~him~~ it show emotion.  
He flinched as his mind stumbled over the pronoun. Him.  
“What did you say, Reed?”  
“Nothing, Nothing”  
Anderson rolled his eyes, he knew, that that wasn’t true but let it slide, they had had to many fights over pointless things already. Sooner or later Fowler would sack them, if they continued that way, but then again, it has been that way for ages now.  
He held back anyway, he was way to tired for this right now, and so was Reed.  
“Shit, I am tired and it hasn’t even been half my shift yet.”  
The man ran a hand through his hair.  
He glanced at the clock. It was 10:28 a.m., if nothing happened, which he hoped, he had at least 6 more hours to go.  
He got up once more, stretched, and took a drink out of his fresh coffee, he almost had forgotten.  
Admittedly not getting tired like the androids would be a welcome attribute to his body. But if he was honest to himself, he couldn’t remember a time where he wasn’t tired and he was almost used to that feeling by now.  
Something always strained him either physically, or mentally or both. This was one of the disadvantages of his job. Yes, he could help people … and androids, but it was very draining too.  
Falling back into the chair he noticed, the android was sitting again, but his face finally wasn’t as blank anymore. His face seemed more – for a lack of a better word – alive again.  
Because he didn’t know what to do Gavin logged into his terminal and started googling corruption of DNA, but all that came up was natural corruption that happened while being born. That didn’t feel like the right solution, much to simple and not possible.  
But Connor was right, just because something seemed impossible or unreal, doesn’t meant it wasn’t actually possible.  
Bitterly he remembered, how he had thought that machines could never take over 20 years ago, yet here they were. Androids were taking human jobs and the unemployment rates were higher than ever.  
He shook his head, this wasn’t the right time to think about this, he was the one that actually had a job to do.  
“Hey RK, could you research DNA corruption?”  
“I did, I went trough every entry I could find. Twice.”  
Gavin tucked at his hair. Damn.  
“Maybe we should contact CyberLife? I know you despise them, but maybe they could help.”  
“Yeah … maybe. Contact them, RK”  
Gavin could feel the frustration climb up his spine. He opened his E-Mail account to distract him for a second. A lot of it was spam, but one took him by surprise.

 

W̵̡̢̙̳͓̰̜̱͍̰̺̜̖̬̰̳̰͉͛ͨ͆ͧ̌ͥ͗̐ͤͧ͆̀͆̄̉̐͢ͅe̛͖̠̮̲̟̟͆ͨͨ̎͗͌͞ ̹̗͖̦̄ͫͫͦ̈̔ͣ̈̽̃͛̋͘͘g̷̴̘̞̭̥̙̬̉ͫ͛̔͛͊ͤ̂̆͠ơ̹̙̹̱͎̱̞̜̮̄ͬ̾̓ͮ̂ͬ̏̃̔͆ͩ͟͝ͅt̤̫͖̹̭͚̙͍̼̥͋̈ͤ́ͣ̏̌͐̀ͫͯ̃̕͘ ̡̛̥̣̖͇̼͈͚̻̦͇̱͖̻̞̥̺ͫͬ̊͑̏͋̅͟͡ͅy͆̇̊͌̃͂̏ͫ͏̷̞̳͎̻͙ǫ̸̧̛͖͎̪̞̰̳̜̬̖͋͑̎̎ͨ̊͊̽ͨ͒͑̓u̶̴̗̟̯̲ͪ̊͐͒̅̂͘ the subject read.

 

‘We got you’ what?  
He hesitated. Should he open it?  
“RK”, he whispered.  
The android looked up quizzically.  
“C’mhere. Look.”  
The android got up in one quick motion and went behind Gavin. Man, was he always that tall? Stupid plastic tree.  
“Do you think it is save to open this?”  
“I don’t know, but I guess we have to, maybe it contains important information”  
Hesitantly Gavin clicked the mail.

I̜͈̩͚̞̹͔ ̜͔͈͈̾͒̄̿̎ͣ̾k͙̭̟̗͉̤̙ͬ͗ͧͭ̈ͥṋ̰̱͓͈̮̖͌͌ͥ̚o͖͍̻̰͍̱̺w̳͔̗̉̏ͣ̐͞ ̥̖̦͔̠̥̮̈̒ͦ͑̔̅y̴͎̤̟̮̾͑͌ͤ̇̒o̱̩̺̥̦̍̔ͪ̔ͅṳ̞̈͝ ̘̮͚a͓̬ͮͭ̏̍̂r̡e ͍̪͉̮͙ͅs̺̝͎̝͍̓͆̓ḛ̜͇̱̪̯̯̔͡a̴͔̒̓ͯ̓̐̍r̥͉̭̪̬̄͌͐̊̔ͧc͏h̺͖͗ͯ͆̆̾̍i̻͚͠n̜̙̜͗̔̋g̤̣͕ͦ̏́ͧ̐ ̡̞͉͕͕̖f̖͉̥͗ͬͤ̎̑̓o̗̭̤͔͓̯̓ͥ̓ͬ̈̓̽r̸͇͙̺͔̺̪̮͋͋̅̈́ ̄ͨͯ̓t̻̥̣̭ͯͧ̎̐ͮͅẖ̶̬̼̼̳̓̑͊ͮͮę̞͖͎͖̹̜͆̈̽ͮ́ͅm͓̹̱͔̖ͨ͐͆.̛͖͖͎̱  
̧͕̣̙̼̦̿͑ͫ̉B͖̲͔͖̜͖̦ͯͪͤ̑͂u̖͙̫̯͊̋t̢̥̖̠̊̑̿̅̊ ̣͎̰͇ť̩̖̼ͥ̄͐h͖̬ͤͩé̏̒̎̍̔m͎͙ͥ̄ͤ̿̀̎ͅ ̵̻̞͎̜͙̔ͪͅaͥ̂̇̚̕r̯͘ē̤͍̙͐͐̓ͤ͂̕ ̡͔̖̓ͤ͗̇ͤͯn͓̖͍̘̻̰̕õ͉̗̘̻͈̱̉̈́ͮ̌̆̇ț̵̝͕͖̳͔͋̉ͬͦ͊ ̻͎͈̝̬̫̤̋t̹̦͠h̴̿̆e͖͓͍ͨ̚r͓͇ͅe̠ͫ́̎̌ͭͣ.̢͔̻͍͕͎ ̫̗̜̯͚͇͑ͯ͠T̰͔̼̙͓̩h̙̰̖͙̼̫ͣͭͣ̑̾ͣe͕̲̘ͯͬ̃̏ͣ̌m̡͇̼̺̻̣͓͌͑͗ͨ͑̉ͅ ̴̽͑͒̚dͧ͏͚̲͔o̭͓͎̫͚͓͒̒̀̚̚ ̔͊ͦ̉ͣn̛̮͍͙͍ͩ̔͆͛̏o͍̭͇̺̤̘̠ͨ̓t̠̗̦̺̻̠ͪ̊̋͝ͅ ͓̰̞͓ͫͮ̍̇̋ͭ̆͡e̪͙̺̝͖̍̿x͔̜̤ͭ̓ĩ̤̗͔̘̠͕ͨ̆ͅș̝̰̜̰̹̝̒ͮ́ͥ͋t͕͓̫͉͔ͫ͗̔.͖̝͍̳̱ͦ͊ͦͬ͂̾̈  
̠̼͔̃͂̉͛́̚N͔̰̩̎͂ͩ͜o͙̣ ̨̩͕͔̩̑o̴̮̥͖̿n̖̥̻͎͍̠͒̐̄̾ͦ̒͡e̥̺̲͈̘̽͂ͪ̿̑ͭ ̠̞̬̳̪͖͖̑e͐͂͏͙͎̭̪x̮͑ͭͤ̋͊ͩͅi͖͍̰̯ͪͩ̊͛̊͑ş̳̤ͭ̌ͅt̯ͬ͆ͯ̒͢ͅs̤̺̔ͮ̌͑.ͪͦͦ͏  
̻̭̰́̇͊ͪͫ͡ͅY̍͗̒͐̽ͤ͏̼͚̥͇͔̲ͅo̙̹̳̳̗ͫ̓̄̋͂̏̐͞ȕ̹͎͉̙͉̃̓͟ ̾̽d̲̼̙̩̏̃ͭ̓o̝̿͒̆ͣ̋͗ṋ͚̼̭̭̥̼ͤ͒͌̂͒ͧ̃'͇̱͒̄̈́t͙̖͎̒ ̪͈ͤex̻͗̆͌̈̿i̷͈̗̦̬͊̏̈̋̂s̢̋ͧͥt̙͍́ͪ́̊͝.̴̗̻͖͓̖͎̬͊̂̒͐̀  
͎͙̫̮̦̠͌͠,Y͈ͨ͛́ͣ͋͐͟o̢̦ͨ̊ͣͫ͗̏̚u̲ͧͪ̂ ̙̓̄͒̅̅̋̔ẃ̫̻̬͂iĺ̉͏̠̲͔̣͉ļ͎̗̪͋̅ ̥̱̭͉̪̤̄͋͘n̳̬̜̣̟ͬ͑ͅo̱̖͖̘̬͚̙t̥̤̳̬̜̰͛ ̲͙ͥ͞s̳̙͍̺ͮ͛ͪͮͫ͞ͅȯ̺̜̭͙̗̐l͍̻͍̗̍̋̑ͧ̐̓ͬv̀͒̅e̮̯͌ͣ̊̈̒̊̆͜ ̺͖͈͗ͪ̋̒ṫ̻͓͙͔͋ͫ̚h̥ͨ͌̽̇̇͢ȉ̙̩͉͇̩̝s̙͍̮̗̯̹͔̋ͥ̓̚

This did not help them at all. He squinted.  
But they seemed to speak of “them”. This had to mean it was a group they were against.  
“A group?”  
“I think so too.”  
It was a tiny bit of information, nevertheless it was information.  
But besides the e-mail nothing interesting happened the rest of they day. They tried their best to keep themselves occupied. Gavin got into another argument with Anderson while getting coffee, and Tina was talking Gavin into going out with her after work, but then she had to stay longer because they got another important case.  
Which meant Gavin had to spend his evening alone again, but he did not really mind.  
Five minutes before his shift ended, Gavin sorted his desk and looked at his partner.  
“Where are you going, after I am gone? You don’t stay here, do you?”  
“In fact, detective, I do.”  
“Why don’t you get a flat or stay with them”, he asked looking at the dream team across from him.  
“As much as I like Connor”, the android snorted, “I don’t like feeling like the third wheel. Besides, it doesn’t matter if I am going into stasis mode here, or anywhere else.”  
Gavin shrugged. Weirdo. But he understood his issue with his ‘brother’ a little too much.  
“Okay, whatever tin can. I am going”  
“Good bye, detective Reed sleep well”  
He rolled his eyes and went out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, we really ain't getting anywhere here, but I still want to flash them out a lot more so.  
> (as much as I wish they would have angry make up sex already (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵))  
> SOOOON.  
> Again, if you find any mistakes, please do tell.


	3. Thank god for girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternaternive title: Acquaintances and interuptions

As Reed finally stepped onto the sidewalk he immediately lit a cigarette. He knew that he should quit, but smoking felt like the only thing that kept him remotely sane. Pathetic.  
He took a step forward and even though his car was waiting for him in the parking lot, he felt like taking a walk. Their recent case had left him too restless.  
Something inside his body just wanted to get away and get lost, he knew he couldn’t do it – being a responsible adult sucked. But this walk wouldn’t hurt.   
He took a drag from the cigarette. Maybe he should file for a short vocation after the case, he had wanted to go to Europe for ages. Maybe Berlin, Amsterdam or Madrid.  
Thinking about those places gave him a feeling of excitement, all he had to do is finish the case and he could give into the urge to run away.  
Come to think of it, he hadn’t felt that way since his teens, not since he had left his family. Or the people that raised him. They never had felt like family anyway.  
His thoughts trailed to his brother – his perfect genius brother. He hated his guts, but at least he wasn’t like his mother, or father. A shiver ran through Gavin’s spine. Thinking about his family gave him anxiety, he liked to bury emotions and the memories of them deep inside of him.  
His good for nothing father, who got drunk almost every day and did things Gavin really didn’t want to think about right now.  
And his mother – he sighed.   
Why did everything have to be so complicated?  
Taking one last drag, he turned around and shoved the bud back into the package. It was time to get home.  
Right the second he thought that, he got a text.

>RK900   
**Are you okay detective? You have left 11.34 minutes ago, but I can still see your car.  
I hope nothing happened. **

Gavin came to an abrupt halt. No fucking way. 

 

**What the fuck is wrong with you, asshole? Are you fucking stalking me?  
And yes, I am completely fine, now fuck off.**

He couldn’t comprehend what just had happened. He felt the knot that formed inside his throat, as the anger slowly rose.  
He actually had thought, they made progress and yet here he was, standing on the sidewalk being helicopter-mom’d by his _own_ fucking android.  
It was really hard to resist the urge to throw his phone to the ground, just to get rid of some anger.  
“You should go see a therapist”, the tiny voice inside his head whispered and he knew, she was right. But fuck that.  
Putting some of his emotion into his motion, he walked faster, but by the time he was at his car he still felt like punching something or someone – so he made a decision.  
Quickly he googled the directions to the next gym. Maybe that would help and maybe he would be able to sleep a bit better as well.  
He was halfway there, when he remembered he still had to get some clothes to exercise in.   
Fuck. He turned into the next street, making it to his home in record time, quickly putting some clothes into his old duffle bag.  
Then he jumped back into his car, already feeling some of the energy fade but he still wanted to go.  
He strode into the fitness centre – thankfully they had hourly rates, as if Gavin would have been committed enough to sign up for a month or a year even. He smiled a little at that thought.  
Quickly he changed in one of the dressing rooms and then went straight for one of the punching bags.   
It took him a solid 30 minutes until he finally felt exhausted enough. Even his mind had quieted down by now. Exactly what he wanted. He punched the back one last time, catching it with both hands as a voice from behind was heard.  
“I’ve been watching you for a while now” Brown hair, trained body, in her twenty’s, around 5”7, cute smile.  
“Sorry, for interrupting though, you seemed to have quite an extensive workout. I’m Sam by the way.”  
She flashed her teeth at him, they were a little crooked, but cute nevertheless.  
“Gavin. And it’s okay, I am done anyways.”  
Suddenly she seemed a bit unsure, awkward.   
“Yeah! Me too, uhm … I know this is weird, but would you like to go out for a drink?”  
The man considered. He shouldn’t drink again so soon, especially as he wanted to focus on his case, but he also would love some further distraction.  
“If not tea or coffee would also be okay.”, she smiled at him again, weaker this time but still sincere.  
“Okay, why not, I have to shower and get changed beforehand though”  
Her smile widened. “Sure, take your time, I have to shower as well”  
They parted ways as the showers were on opposite sites, but she wasn’t hard to spot once Gavin stepped out again. He was surprised that she was finished before him, but as he got closer he noticed that her hair – which she now had tied up into a messy knot on her head- was still wet.  
“You know, you could have tried your hair, I don’t want you to get sick.”  
She seemed a bit flustered but waved it off.  
“I’ll be fine Gavin, don’t worry about me.”  
That she said his name like this took him a bit off guard, but he tried not to let anything show.  
“Okay, whatever, your choice”, a small smile on his lips.  
“So, where to you want to go, Sam” he asked, once they were standing outside.  
“I know a cute café that isn’t far from here, besides it’s also close to my home, so I can walk there”  
Was she implying something? Maybe.  
“I’m fine with whatever – I do have my car though – so I can drive you wherever you want”, Gavin wasn’t used to being so friendly with strangers. The chance of getting laid made it not as hard though.  
She pursed her lips, considering.   
“I’d prefer the café though, if you don’t mind”  
He shrugged, anything was fine with him.  
“Great, then let’s go”, she smiled at him full beam again.  
Something that annoyed him a little was the fact that he had to walk a little faster than usual to keep up with her pace.  
Damn being so short.  
Sam was right though; the café was close.  
He held open the door and she walked in while doing a quick curtsey.  
“What a gentleman”  
He rolled his eyes, but she really was cute so he didn’t mind her being a brat.  
“Oh, I forgot to mention” she said while they got to a table in the corner of the room, a look of guilt displaying in her face, “they have cats here. I hope that’s okay.”  
“Yeah, I like cats”  
“You do? You don’t strike me as a cat type though”  
“Well”  
They sat down on the bench next to each other. Close but not to close.  
“Sooo .. what do you do, Gavin?”  
Normally he didn’t like small talk, he liked when people cut straight to the case, but he had to bear it this time. The chance of getting laid sooner or later was high with this one.  
“I work at the DPD”  
Sam rose an eyebrow.  
“Interesting”, she smirked.  
“What do you do?”  
“I am a teacher”  
“You are? You don’t strike me as that type”, he smirked back. It wasn’t actually true though, he could imagine her perfectly. He painted a picture in his mind where she was standing in the classroom, surrounded by 30 kids who all wanted her attention, yet she was still smiling.  
“Actually, yes.”  
They were interrupted as the android waitress came up to them. Three cats were purring at her feet.  
“Can I take your orders?”  
Gavin looked at Sam, who simply nodded.  
“I’d like the usual please.”  
“I’d like an espresso”  
“Coming up, anything else?”  
Both shook their heads.  
“One moment please”  
“So, the usual?”, he turned to his partner.  
“Uh yes, I come here quite often.”  
“I see”  
“And with you, an espresso at that time seems a bit late for it”  
“I am used to it by now. It’s basically my lifeline”  
She grinned. Cute.  
“Right, detective, I am sorry.”  
“ _Clearly_ you are”  
She pushed him into the side. The sudden contact was a bit strange, but he hadn’t had the time to process it, because their beverages were placed in front of them.  
Gavin raised an eyebrow. A match latté. He hasn’t seen one of those in a long time.  
She shrugged, “What can I say? I am a bit old school”  
“That’s fine, I am actually old”  
She laughed. She genuinely laughed.  
“Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. You are probably not that much older than me”  
“I’m 36”  
“Okay, so 10 years, I told you … not much older”  
She winked. Wait, did she really just wink at him? What was happening here.   
He took a sip of his espresso. It was very good coffee, a bit bitter but full-bodied. Gavin really liked it.  
“That’s good coffee they got here”  
She smiled again. Damn. Does she ever stop? She seemed way too nice for him.  
“There is a reason I am a regular here. Besides the cats of course”  
With that she patted on the bench next to her, which resulted in a black longhair to jump up.  
“That’s Dante by the way”  
She knew their names. Gavin wasn’t sure whether that was sweet or if this creeped him out.   
Sam scratched Dante behind his ear, which made the cat flop to his back, so she could rub his belly.  
“And yes, he is named after the Italian poet. They all are named after famous persons.”  
“Interesting.”, he wasn’t sure what to say.  
“Yeah, maybe … to be honest I just like to pet them. It helps me to calm my mind, if something is stressing me out and sport doesn’t help.”  
This caught the mans attention, could she feel how stressed he was? He knew it was impossible, but maybe he was so burnt out he wasn’t able to hide his emotions anymore.  
She looked at him again.  
“Sorry, I meant to keep it light-hearted”  
“It’s fine, my job is light hearted enough … I mean, if you consider homicides fun.”  
“I can imagine … do you have any hobbies besides sport, Gavin?”  
“Actually, sport isn’t really my thing. Today has just been fucking exhausting and stressing so I needed to blow of some steam. I do like reading though, if I get a bit of free time.”  
“I could tell, if I am honest, you seemed a little distressed when you walked in”  
Of course she could.  
“What do you do in your free time?”  
“I like to read too, and I like to paint. Sometimes I also like to bake, though I am really not good at it.”  
They continued to have a small talk for almost an hour until Sam finally came to the end.  
“Normally I’d ask you out for a cocktail or something, but I assume that you have a lot to do at work tomorrow … so let’s do it another time, maybe?”, she beamed at him again, as she had done so many times tonight.  
Suddenly Gavin was a bit frustrated, this meant he wouldn’t get laid tonight even though he enjoyed her company a lot. And just because she postponed it didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen eventually. He would make sure of that.  
“Yeah, you are right and maybe”, he smirked at her.  
“Awesome, let’s exchange numbers?”  
Gavin handed her his phone and she swiftly tipped in her number.   
As she handed it back she sent a message to her phone, so she would have his number as well.  
It was a bold move, but over the evening Gavin had learned, that even though she seemed to be the innocent girl next door, she was also very courageous and spoke her mind.  
Gavin really could like her.   
As he got his phone back he saw that he had another text from the android, but he swiped it away. He really didn’t feel like that right now.  
He let his phone slide back into his pocked while Sam was standing up and walking towards the counter.   
“Let’s pay, shall we?”  
“I’m paying”, he said going after her and putting 15$ on the counter. As the android wanted to give him his change he simply waved it off.  
“See, I told you, you were a gentleman.”  
Gavin rolled his eyes and she was chuckling behind him.  
Again, he was holding open the door for her and he just waited for another remark from her, but it never came. Instead she was turning to him and smiling, but this time she seemed rather shy and nothing like she had been the past hour or so.  
“Thank you for the nice evening … I really enjoyed it.”  
He Gave her a warm smile, he liked her, she was nothing like he imagined her to be, but she was one of the friendliest people he had met in a long time and it was just too simple to be nice with her.  
“So did I”  
With that, her smile got bigger again.   
“See you soon then, I guess?”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
With that she walked off to the direction of her home, not without turning around again though and waving at him.  
He rolled his eyes, sometimes she was really cliché.  
With a much lighter feeling he went back to his car. He really needed this evening, it really helped him getting some mental energy back.  
His drive home went pretty uneventful, but as he finally was home he kicked of his shoes and went straight to his couch. Without really paying attention he turned on the TV and fumbled his phone out of his pocked.  
The message from RK was still displayed silently judging him, so he opened it.

>>RK900 

**I am sorry, I shouldn’t have snooped, I was just worried something had happened.**

Gavin rubbed his temples. Noisy fucking plastic pricks.

 

**It’s fine now plastic prick and never text me in my free time again.**

He zapped around a bit, settling on a rerun of friends, which he watched until he dosed off.

However, his peace didn’t last long as he was violently shaken awake by loud bangs at his door.  
Groggily he got up, not without taking a glance at the clock though. It was a quarter to three in the morning.  
He got ready to yell at some drunk neighbours while he jerked open the door but was suddenly stopped by the sight of the android standing in his doorframe.  
“What the f-“  
“I am sorry, detective, but we have got another body”  
“And that couldn’t have waited until the morning”  
The android grimaced.  
“I fear not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey. so first of all, thanks for the Kudos and comment. I never thought someone would actually read the crap I am spilling out so ~ thank yooou. <3  
> slowly I feel like we are getting somewhere, I am still fleshing this out though. This will probably longer than I anticipated.   
> also do we like Sam?   
> No one knows except me :3c   
> she definitely will appear again ...  
> anyways, I hope you had fun so far and if you have any critic or love to share feel free to do so.


	4. une vie solitaire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they found another body. Human this time.  
> Though they not seemed to make much progress on the case, RK felt like he was making progress with Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: Are we making progress YEEEEEEEEEET?!  
> Early update, because I am feeling this right now (also I am going to a concert tomorrow and i will be whiped for the next day or two ^-^")  
> Besides I wanted to uptade you because this turns out to be a really slow burn and I don't want to keep you hanging (also this way I am lowkey forcing myself to continue with this)  
> Again, constructive critisism would be highly appreciated - or just trop by and say hi.
> 
> Anyway, have funnn ~
> 
> PS.: - i have no idea how polices work nor how androids dooo. oops.

RK was still trying to figure out what was going on with the message and the corrupted DNA they had found when a beep of a notification interrupted his train of thought.  
Young female, human, not yet identified, scratched and burned - close, by the police station.  
He had to get to Gavin, but he didn’t want to text him again, besides the human was probably asleep by now.  
He shrugged on his jacket and then just ran out of the precinct.  
This shouldn’t be happening so soon again. Something in his system also told him, that they were getting closer – which was not good at all.  
He ran as fast as he could, he needed to warn his partner and maybe this was their chance to get another lead.  
As he reached the detectives’ door he banged as loud as he could. Thankfully he quickly opened the door. He seemed messy though. He ran a quick scan, good he was fine.  
After a short exchange they quickly ran to Gavin’s car.  
He still seemed very drowsy.  
“I can’t drive, shit prick”  
What.  
“I am too tired, also, don’t give me that look, this isn’t my fault”  
Gavin threw him the keys.  
“You should be happy, you know? I never let anyone drive, let alone your kind.”  
The android was quite confused, somehow his partner seemed different. Yes, he still was swearing, yes, he still was fierce as ever, but he seemed more content?  
“What are you waiting for? You woke me up in the middle of the night and now you are wasting time?”  
“Detective are you ok?” Was he on drugs?  
“I swear to fucking everything that is holy, if you don’t get your ass in immediately I am going to shoot you.”  
Hesitantly the android got in and Gavin crawled into the seat next to him.  
“So, catch me up, robot”  
Quickly he told him everything they knew and then he told him that he feared that they were getting closer.  
“You sure?”  
“Not really, but something tells me-“  
“I get it, I get it.”, suddenly he seemed awake. He was the professional detective he admired.  
“Also, I am sorry that I had to wake you up, but I hope that we might get an actual lead”  
“’s fine, robot”, he ran his hand trough his hair and ruffled it.  
They arrived at the crime scene soon enough, they both got out and everything seemed to similar.  
Scratched, burned, raped, but human this time.  
What did these have to do with each other? And who did this? This just seemed so unusual.  
Suddenly something caught the androids’ attention.  
“Reed.”  
“What.”  
“ I am not entirely sure, but I think there are bite marks on her”, he pointed at the shoulder of the victim. They were barely visible due to the state the body was in, but the human could make them out.  
“Yes …?”  
“The thing is, there are marks on her arms as well, but those seem to come from an android.”  
“I literally have no idea what you are getting at”  
The man rubbed his eyes.  
“I am trying to say, that I think the bite mark is from a human – it’s too imperfect and there wasn’t used as much force as on the marks on the arms. ”  
“This means, we are … lucky to have a human this time? But how would that be possible? Two people?”  
“If you want to put it like that, yes. Those bruises wouldn’t show up on a basic android, but I do not think that there were two people.”  
“But …?”  
“Maybe the human has implants.”  
Oh. But that wasn’t uncommon these days, people have been augmenting their bodies long before.  
“I know it’s not much, but maybe that could help”, the android whispered, “besides something else seems off, but I can’t quite place it.”  
“But if you can’t place it? Who should? I thought you were the state of the art model?”  
RK was surprised by the lack of hatred in his voice.  
“Yes, I am, but that doesn’t mean I am perfect.”  
“Riiiiiight. But there must be something to this. I mean, first an android, now a human, they presumably were both attacked by a human with implants. This seems so off.”  
“Maybe we can figure it out once she is identified … it’s too late now anyways.”  
The android sighed, even though there was no need for breathing, it just helped to relive some of the pressure that was weighting heavy on him.  
Quickly he scanned the area again, to see if there were any traces left, but like the last time, nothing could be found.  
“Lets get you home, detective”  
Gavin just yawned in response.  
They drove back in silence, both men were lost in their own thoughts  
As they reached the house, the human was basically asleep again. RK considered carrying his partner to his bed, but he’d probably kill him in the morning.  
Instead he opted for quietly waking him.  
“You are home.”  
Gavins eyes flutterd open, but then he pressed them close again.  
“Jus- let me sleep inss- the car”  
“No, you will hurt your back. Come on”  
Swiftly he unbuckled their seatbelts. Then he walked to the other’s door and opened it.  
“Do you want me to carry you?”  
This made the mans head jerk. “are you nuts?”  
Clumsily he got out of the car and almost stumbled over his own feet. Damn.  
RK quickly reached out to catch him, but there was no need, as the human managed to support himself somehow.  
Still he followed close by, just in case something did happen.  
Awkwardly Reed opened the door, he hasn’t felt that exhausted in a long time. Today had been an emotional roller-coaster.  
It took him quite a while, but he managed to enter, and headed straight to his bedroom.  
“Will you be fine detective? If so I am leaving now.”  
“Stay.”  
What? Did he just say that? Even though RK’s hearing was remarkable, he wasn’t sure if he had just imagined that. Uncertainly he just stood there.  
“I said stay.”, the shorter man ran a hand trough his hair, “it’s weird enough, that you always stay at the office.”  
RK was just looking at him, scanning his opponent for any signs of sarcasm or hatred, but there wasn’t any.  
“Now close the goddamn door and let me go to sleep, will ya?”, with that he turned around again, making finally getting in to bed. He was exhausted, much so that he just fell face first into his bed, struggling to take of his shoes with his feet and then curling into a ball and falling asleep almost instantly.  
The android was still standing in the hallway, unsure of what to do, so he decided to close the door first, at least that was one of his tasks that blinked in his interface. Then he turned around to scan his surroundings.  
The house was small but cosy. It held enough space for one human and the human currently living in it tried his best, to make the space liveable. There were a few plants, which surprised him, but they all looked healthy and well taken care of. Further he discovered, that a lot of books were scattered around. On the kitchen table, on the couch, on the floor next to the couch, on the bookshelf.  
RK concluded that his partner liked to read, and more so, he seemed to prefer real paper books, he noted that inside his head. That might come in handy sooner or later.  
Slowly he made his way into the living room and to the shelf. There were a lot of classics on them, Poe, Doyle – of course he liked Sherlock Holmes. There was nothing that would be more fitting for Gavin Reed. RK felt a smile on his face.  
Much to his surprise he also found a lot of poetry on there. One of the books seemed especially worn down. It was a copy of Walt Whitman’s leaves of grass.  
Carefully he took it out, slowly tracing the cover of the book, it smelled like old paper and cigarette smoke, it’s pages were yellowed by the age. Nonetheless RK could see why those books could hold a value for his partner.  
As carefully as he took it out he put it back in. He was very intrigued by the possessions of his partner, but he knew, that he would despise him, if he snooped around. So he made a note to ask him about it instead, choosing the direct way.  
Slowly he made his way back to the couch, slowly sitting down on it and initialising stasis mode.

Too soon Gavin was woken up again, he felt like he didn’t sleep at all. Groggily he made it out of bed and into the shower. This wakened him a bit, but he knew that this day would be a hard one to survive.  
He patted back to his room, got dressed and then froze in his tracks.  
“Shit, the android”, he whispered to himself.  
As he entered his kitchen, he tried to play cool as the android was standing by his coffee machine.  
“I’ve made you coffee, I thought you might need it”, he turned to Gavin as he entered the room.  
Too tired to protest, he simply thanked him.  
It was good too, so he really had no reason to complain one way or another.  
Taking the cup and leaving the android, he walked out the front to light a cigarette. What was different to his usual morning ritual though, was the android obviously.  
“You know detective, you really shouldn’t smoke.”  
“’course I do, I am not stupid, but you woke me up at 3 a.m. and this is keeping me sane, so you better shut up”  
“That doesn-“, Gavin shut him up with a glance. It was too early for a fight. Especially not one that Gavin knew, the android would win. Especially from a rational point of view.  
“Thank you for letting me stay though.”  
He looked up in the robots’ face, a sincere – or the artificial way of sincere – smile was played on it’s face.  
“You are welcome, I guess”, he took a drag, consequently not having to talk any more.  
“Can I ask you a question, detective?”  
“You just did, but go ahead”  
“How come you still have that many real books?”  
Gavin snorted. “If you haven’t gotten the memo yet, I hate artificial things … besides, some of them are my grandfathers.”  
Interesting.  
“Have you read one?”  
“No, I didn’t want to snoop around”  
“Maybe you should have, maybe it would have taught you how to behave more human … but I do appreciate you not being a noisy shit again.”  
Ouch. That hit something inside the RK, he still needed to get used to emotions. They were utterly confusing, and he didn’t know how to sort them.  
“You know Reed, I am trying.”, that made him look up at the android. He could see some emotions behind the mask of Reed … was it empathy?  
But that look was gone as soon as it came.  
“I appreciate that, dipshit.”  
With that, he put the cigarette into the tray on the windowsill, just as he had done yesterday and walked to his car.  
“C’mon, we need to go to work”  
“If it makes you uncomfortable I can walk.”  
“First of all, plastic prick, I am not a pussy that needs to protect his manliness by being a dick (he just liked being one) secondly, don’t be ridiculous and lastly you still got my keys.”  
Right. RK threw the keys to his partner, who quickly got in and then waited for him to enter.  
_Were they making progress?_


	5. eagles and hidden messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the body had been identified, the human has family, but would they be able to find out more about her?  
> and why was Gavin behaving so unusual? RK needed to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made it, early update ;A; but only becuase I have to go to the hospital tomorrow (today) and wouldn't be able to update you.  
> Please be aware, that I was only able to scan quickly for mistakes, it is one a.m. and I should have gone to bed hours ago oops.
> 
> Again, critic, kudos and commeents are highly appreciated. <3

As they entered together Anderson already opened his mouth to say something, but Connor kicked him, so he just looked judgingly at Connor while rubbing the hurting spot.  
Silently the RK thanked him and his predecessor just nodded, happily smiling at him.   
Luckily the human didn’t notice any of the interaction, he already was invested in the case again.  
“They identified her.”  
Reed was now looking at him directly.  
“She had family.”  
Something inside the android shifted, he could hear the pain in his partners voice, even tough he tried to conceal it.  
“What’s her name?”, the android walked close, speaking quietly, so he wouldn’t disturb the human.  
“Her name was Laura Adler, she lived with her mother and they immigrated from Germany, back when she was only four years old. It recently was her birthday too.”  
The android started researching her to see if anything else came up.   
“Apparently, she was a doctor, detective. She made her Master back in Austria, once she finished her studies she came back and practiced with children, this is until recently.”  
Gavin straightened his shoulders.  
“Why would she stop? I mean, she went trough all this and then just stops?”  
“I agree. Something must have happened.”  
The detective rubbed his temples, like he always did when he was stressed out.   
“I hate this … let’s go RK, we need to speak to the mother.”  
Despite his words, he was just standing there - slowly the android reached out, wanting to touch the shorter one’s shoulder, but inches before, he let his hand sink to his side again.  
He wouldn’t like contact, after all a few minutes ago he had said that he hated everything artificial.

A feeling he would describe as frustration was building in his stomach. At least he could give him a chance. But maybe not all was lost, he was determined to get closer with his partner.  
“Let’s go then”, he silently persuaded.   
With a quiet huff Gavin turned around and walked out the door without saying anything.  
In unison the got into the car, Gavin looking at him.  
“Prick, can you tell me the directions?”  
Of course he could. They drove in silence until RK got too curious and began to speak in a hushed voice.   
“Are you okay, you seem so out of it today.”  
“The fuck do you care?”  
“I just do.”, it was true. He cared about that trashcan of a human being.   
This struck the human.  
“I am as okay as I can be.”  
“okay.”  
Then they continued to drive in silence until the house of Laura’s mother appeared.  
“I don’t want to do this”  
“Do you want me to go in alone?”  
“No.”  
He unbuckled, taking one more deep breath and then getting out and going to the resident’s door.  
Lightly he knocked and not long after a small woman appeared in the doorframe, her eyes immediately started tearing up.  
“It’s Laura, isn’t it?”, she whispered, she still had a slight German accent.  
“May we come in, Ms Adler?”  
She stepped aside, wiping away her tears with one thumb.   
“Can I get you both anything?”  
“We are fine, thank you.” The RK answered.  
“You might want to sit down.”  
She did, waving them to sit down as well.  
Gavin sighed inaudibly as they did.  
“Your daughter … was found today.”  
She let out a quiet sob.  
"You know, I just had her back. She got back about a year ago, she has been so happy. She wanted to become a prodigy in her field.” The woman smiled as she thought of her daughter.  
“She was a bit over the top tough. Don’t get me wrong. I supported her in every way possible. Her going back to Europe, to become a doctor, her, wanting to be the best, her sacrificing everything, so she could become the person she wanted to be. I just wish, that I could spent more time with her.”  
Gavin could understand all too well.  
“I’m sorry Ms Adler, but was there anything unusual?”  
“About a month ago she just stopped going to work and when I asked her about it, she either blocked me off or told me that she didn’t want to hurt me.”  
“May we look into her room?”  
“Of course”, she sniffled. “especially if it helps catching her murderer”  
She got back up, straightened her clothes and started walking towards a door next to the entrance.  
Slowly she opened it and stepped aside so both of them could walk inside.  
At first glance a lot of books where visible, she had rows upon rows of books, displayed on large shelves that lined two walls.   
“Whoa”, Gavin whispered in awe.   
In the centre of the room stood a queen-size bed. Other than that, nothing seemed unusual, it was a typical room of a twenty-something human.  
RK walked forward.  
“There is her laptop”  
“Can you hack into it?”  
The android looked at Gavin, raising an eyebrow.  
“What?”  
“You should know I am more-“  
“Yes, yes, yes, I do. Now get to work”  
“I assume that this won’t be as easy as you think it is, though.”  
“Of course not”, he rolled his eyes.  
“You heard what Ms Adler told us”, he looked at the woman standing in the door, silently watching them, “as her daughter was secretive about everything, I don’t think it will be easy to access her data.”  
“But you haven’t even tried yet, dipshit.”  
The RK sighed, a custom he apparently had adapted from Gavin.  
Swiftly he pressed the on button, and the laptop booted.  
Much to the android’s surprise there wasn’t a password.   
“See”  
Now the man walked closer, so he could see what was going on on the screen too.  
“This is too simple”, he furrowed his brows, “there has to be more to this”  
“Maybe, but also maybe she just thought she wouldn’t get caught … or maybe her data is somewhere else.”  
“Possible.”, he clicked trough her data, so fast that Reeds human eyes could hardly follow.  
“A lot of personal data, pictures with friends, games, digital art, what appears do be a dairy. Maybe we can retrieve more information from there”, with that, the android closed the laptop and turned around to the woman.  
“Do you mind if we take this? We need to search it more thoroughly and we don’t want to burden you with our presence for too long.” He smiled, trying to soothe the woman’s feelings. He could see her stress levels rise. “We will save any personal data for you of course.”  
Again, her eyes began welling up. As she spoke, her voice was barely audible.  
“Alles für meine Laura”  
Thankfully the android’s audio processors could translate in real time, so he just nodded and unplugged the laptop.  
“We will give it back to you as soon as possible.”  
“RK”, Gavin’s voice sounded behind him, he was surprised there was no harsh tone in it.  
“What about her books, what if she hid something inside them.”  
“I scanned them, there is nothing inside that shouldn’t be”  
“What if she has taken some notes in them?”  
“Do you really want to search 487 books for some possible information? We will check the laptop first and if there is any other information we need, we will come back”, he paused, “if that’s alright with you, Ms Adler”  
She just nodded silently in response and Gavin also seemed satisfied … for the moment at least.  
With that he started walking towards the entrance, but then hesitated. Gavin was still standing behind him, not moving.  
“Are you okay detective?”  
“I don’t know … something just seems so wrong. This seems so wrong”  
“That’s normal when it comes to … cases like this, isn’t it?” RK tried to make his voice sound extra understanding.  
“Yeah.”, he sighed then turned to the elderly woman, “I am so sorry Ms Adler”  
“It’s not your fault”  
The human rubbed his arms, visibly uncomfortable. RK was not used to seeing his partner so … vulnerable. Something about this situation seemed to trigger something inside of him. Once again, he made a note to talk about it later.  
Finally, he took a few steps forward, making a halt close to the woman.  
“I wish we could have prevented this”  
She looked at him, and then took him into a hug, at first, he seemed very stiff, but after a few seconds he eased into the embrace.  
“Thank you for your concern, detectives. I am thankful that you took the case. Something tells me that you will solve this … and that’s all I want for my Lauri.”  
She let go of him and took a step back.   
“We will, I promise you.”  
The android scanned Reed, he seemed calmer now, but there was something else now. Determination.   
“I have on last question though” she said.  
“Of course.”  
“Can I see her?”  
“I don’t think-“  
“Please, I want to”  
“We will arrange something and let you know.”  
“Thank you.”, she smiled at both of them then stepped aside to let them out and walked to her door.  
“If there is anything I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to come back.”  
They both nodded in unison and walked out.   
Back in the car the android looked at Gavin again, who was currently turning the engine.  
“I know I asked you multiple times already, but are you okay?”  
Reed was ready to snap at the plastic prick but couldn’t bring himself to it. He was too tired.  
“No, I am not, and no, I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Okay, but if you ever feel the need to-“  
“I will be fine – please just.”, he let his head sink onto the steering wheel, breathing in deeply a couple of times. Once more, the android wanted to touch the human and again, he didn’t in fear of make Gavin close up again.  
“Can I ask you something else tough?”  
He looked up at him, his grey eyes incredibly sad and tired.  
“The scene with Ms Adler, you suddenly seemed so human.”  
That made Gavin laugh, his plastic tree just called him human, the comicalness of the situation just seemed so odd.  
“She just reminded me of someone, that’s all.”  
“Whom?”  
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now, plastic, but thanks for your concern.”  
He nodded, he would ask again. The more he was able to get to know Gavin, the more he got interested. There was more to this human, than what could be seen at first. Something in his system mockingly told him, that that was the thing about humans, there is more to them than meets the eye.  
Little did he know he was turning more and more human by the minute.  
Then they drove back, yet again in silence for a while, but it then was the human who broke it.  
“Can I ask you a question for once?”  
“Of course, detective”  
“Why do you care so much and don’t say ‘you just do’. Everyone has ulterior moves, even you androids.”  
This took the android of guard, why would he think that? This seemed to be a way too insecure move for detective Gavin Reed.  
“Because I want to get to know you, detective, believe it or not.”, he smiled his most sincere smile, while his partner snorted.  
“You are weird, even weirder than Hanks puppy if I may say so myself.”  
This made the android laugh.  
“I’ll take that as a compliment. But I mean it, besides, we are partners. Knowing eachother will help our working relationship”  
“Sure.”, then he went silent again.  
As they finally walked into the precinct again, RK immediately went through the data on the laptop again, while Gavin started writing down the information and filing it.

Suddenly the android got up and went into the break room, to get Gavin some coffee, he thought he might need it.  
He placed it next to the sitting man, who just looked up at him with a surprised expression.  
“Wha-“  
“I just thought, you might need it.”, he said, going to his place and sitting down again.  
Gavin grimaced, sighed and then whispered an inaudible “thank you”. RK was still able to register it though.  
They worked in silence for about half an hour, when Gavin sighed once more and got up.  
“I need a smoke”  
The android looked up, as he saw Gavin walk out the door and went back to the laptop again, something told him, he was about to discover something.  
He was currently reading trough Laura’s dairy, which was surprisingly trivial, as something caught his attention.  
The program she used to write had the option to log in with an account. He clicked the symbol on the far right and discovered that she had a second account. He tried to log into it, but obviously it needed a password.   
He went trough the data he had looked at once more and Gavin came back.  
“Got anything yet?”, he said, walking up behind him. So close, he could smell the cigarette he was smoking mere seconds ago.  
“Kind of, she was using a second account.”  
“Protected I assume?”  
He nodded.  
“Hm, have you checked everything for any clues?”  
The android was scandalized of course he had.  
“What about her art? Have you checked that?”  
“Why would she hide something in there.”  
Gavin gave him a funny look.  
“Humans RK.”  
What?  
The detective seemed to sense his confusion.  
“Humans always, or mostly use art to express something, to get a message across. Whether it is via drawing, writing or even poetry.”  
 _Poetry_. His system picked something up, he should have gone through Gavin’s collection.  
“Thank you, I will check her art.”  
And he was right, only one hour after he started going trough her collection, he found something.  
It was a painting of an android, thorn apart, with a dead look in his eyes. Disturbing and at first glance there was nothing special about it otherwise, but as he scanned the picture again, he could see something in the genderless androids’ eyes. Numbers, faintly painted in.  
Quickly he tried the combination on the second account and much to his surprise he actually got in.  
There was nothing to find though, the temporarily safe of the file she had been working on was long gone.  
He tried logging into her E-Mail account with the same address and what he found there triggered a feeling of fear inside his system.  
“Detective”, he whispered, as he was staring at the screen in front of him.


	6. Guess I’m contagious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bodies. so many bodies and even more emotions.  
> This day was a mess and Gavin tried to deal with it, he really tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’d be safest if you ran  
> Fuck, that’s what they all just end up doing in the end ♪
> 
> WHEW. heads up, this chapter will be a bit graphic, so if you are squirmish ... i am sorry.  
> also this chapter is a mess and a real rollercoaster :)) poor baby boy Gavin.  
> I hope this will come up to your expectations though. 
> 
> Have funn ~ *ducks* 
> 
> (Kudos and comments are highly motivating so feel free to leave either or both :3)

Gavin looked up as the android called him, he wasn’t used to hearing so much emotion in the its voice.  
Quickly he walked over and looked at the screen, the thing was staring at.  
“Holy sh-“  
They found pictures, a lot of pictures, disassembled body parts, some of them where stripped of their skin. Which meant they were human but also android parts could be seen.  
What shocked them both was the fact, that some of them where sown together.  
Gavin felt nausea forming in his stomach.  
What was the meaning behind all this? And what hat Laura Adler to do with it? Was she involved somehow and didn’t want to be a part of this anymore, or did this sick person want her skill to help? They had to find out.  
“RK”, Gavin hushed, “what is the meaning behind all this”  
“I … I don’t know”, its LED flared red.  
“RK”, he tried to get the androids attention, he felt like he needed to distract him, otherwise that thing would probably shut down, or worse.  
“Dipshit”, he said, louder this time, but there was still no response.  
In the spur of the moment he unplugged the screen of the androids pc, and it went black immediately.  
Baffled the android looked up, its LED stuttering back to yellow.  
“Why did you do that detective?”  
“BECAUSE”, he almost yelled, but lowered his voice as his colleagues shoot him looks, “because you just went full panic mode plastic prick.”  
“I… I did?”  
“Yes! Look at you, you look like you have seen a ghost.”  
“I kind of hav-“  
“Metaphorically speaking”, he murmured, whilst pinching the bridge of his nose.  
“Well thank y-“  
“Shut up and come on”  
“Where are we going”, RK tilted his head like a puppy.  
Weird.  
“We are having a cigarette”  
“But I don’t smoke.”  
Gavin rolled his eyes.  
“Then you just stand there whilst _I_ do”  
“You shouldn’t either”  
“Seriously, just let’s go out for a bit”  
Gavin got up and walked to the door, he hesitated a moment and then pushed it open. Why did he even care?  
As soon as he stepped outside he lit a cigarette.  
He certainly needed a proper break real soon.  
This case even got to the android, and it was built for shit like that.  
Suddenly it appeared next to him, but didn’t say a word, which Gavin was thankful for.  
They stood there in silence while Gavin watched the smoke puffs disappear into the air. It was weird how peaceful this moment felt, especially considering the gruesome images they just had seen.  
“I know you’d prefer not to talk, detective Reed, but I really need to thank you. Somehow my system appeared to be malfunctioning and I couldn’t focus anymore.”  
“That is called a panic attack, and it wasn’t not fucking system malfunctioning.”, he looked off into the distance.  
“Panic attack? But I am not supposed to get panic attacks.”  
“You are not supposed to feel emotion either, yet here we are”  
Now he looked at the android, it’s LED was now out of sight, but he didn’t need it to decipher what it was thinking.  
“Being human sucks.”  
That choice of words amazed him, but he had to laugh. RK didn’t know how right it was.  
“Agreed.”  
“Can I-“  
“Just ask, god dammit, you don’t always have to ask if you can ask a question.”  
“I just want to be polite”  
Gavin snorted.  
“At least I own enough civility to be.”  
He had to give that to it, it wasn’t wrong.  
“So what do you wanted to ask, trash can?”  
“How do you know so much about panic attacks?”  
“I don’t know _that_ much, it’s basic knowledge”  
“Don’t lie to me, I can scan you. You know enough that you can recognise it, even the android version of it.”  
“Don’t you dare, plastic robot”  
“You really need to work on your vocabulary, if you keep insulting me”  
He could feel how the blood rushed to his ears. Exposed.  
Nervously he took a long drag. Gavin really needed to stop telling the android so much personal stuff about him.  
“Do I get an answer, or will you continue to pretend I am not here?”  
Shit.  
“Okay … I dealt with panic attacks on a regular basis, back when I still lived with my family.”  
The android looked at him, tilting his head again.  
“Isn’t a family supposed to support their members?”  
Ha. Ha. Ha.  
“Yes, supposed, but there I was … “  
“Do you still get panic attacks?”  
He rubbed his arms and closed his eyes, “sometimes.”  
“I am sorry.”  
“It’s not your fault.”, that sentence made him think of Ms Adler again.  
It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.  
He shook his head to get rid of the thought.  
“We should get back to work. We need to stop this.”  
“Yes, we should, but detective, thank you for talking to me”  
He just hummed in response, opened his eyes again and started walking back in.  
What the hell just happened.  
Back inside, both of them went straight back to RK’s pc, who had plugged the cable back in already. They had to find clues, whether they liked, or not.  
The more they looked, the more gruesome details they discovered. It seemed to be only female body parts, and mostly arms. Oddly enough there were no torsos to be seen.  
“I think I am going to be sick, who would do something like that?”  
Again, the android just looked at the pictures without replying.  
“RK…”  
“I might have an idea …”  
“Shoot.”  
“What if our person of interest really has an augmented body … but.”  
Oh. Shit. “Would that be possible?”  
“I am not sure … but maybe that’s why the person needed Ms Adler.”  
That sounded way too plausible for Reed.  
“We need to find that place, now.”  
“That wouldn’t be a good idea, and you know it”  
But they needed to do _something_.  
“Detective, we need to be prepared and we don’t even know where these pictures were taken.”  
It was right … but.  
“We should update Fowler first and see what he thinks”  
Gavin threw his hands into the air to compensate the feeling of not knowing what to do.  
He hasn’t felt this restless for so long and he even thought that things couldn’t get much worse a few moments ago.  
His breathing quickened, he felt the panic rise up his spine. Shit. Fuck.  
Reed walked back to his place, plopping down on his chair, just to get back up again. Ruffled his hair, went into the break room to get coffee, simply to do something familiar to distract his mind. Drumming his fingers on the counter, focusing on his breath.  
As his coffee was done, he once again walked back to his place.  
“Detective you shouldn’t-“  
He shot the look a dead stare but he felt his hands starting to shake.  
“Concentrate on your breath, Gavin”, he told himself. He had done this a million times already and under normal circumstances it probably would have worked, but this just was a mess.  
He also hated the fact that he felt so helpless, he has been working in this field for so long and he had seen a lot of grisly cases already, but somehow this case felt more unsettling than he wanted to admit.  
“RK, let’s talk to Fowler.” He just needed to do something. Even if it wouldn’t bring them any further.  
The android got up and stood right next to him.  
Slowly Gavin took a step forward. Still trying to supress the panic.  
He pushed open the door to Fowlers office.  
“We need to talk to you.”  
Fowler chuckled, raising an eyebrow.  
“We.”  
“Shut your mouth, it is important.”  
The smile disappeared from his face, he even let Gavin’s tone slide.  
“Sit down.”  
“You are familiar with the case RK and I are working on, right?”  
“Mostly. But I assume you made progress?”  
Quickly they filled him in and one could see how the blood trained from his face.  
“We still need to figure out, where the place is, though.”, Gavin ended, bobbing his foot up and down.  
Fowler simply nodded.  
“Let me know when you did, and let me tell you, you are not doing this alone. This is way too dangerous. I don’t want you to die … way too much paperwork.”, with that he got up and signalised the team, that they were done for now.  
“And maybe you should go home for now”  
Gavin’s jaw dropped. Was he for real? Going home? NOW?!  
“Reed, it won’t help if you miss some important details, because you can’t work objectively.”  
He didn’t know what to respond. He was too perplexed.  
“Detective, not to side with anyone, but he might be right”  
How dare. How could _his_ android, side with his boss?  
He walked out, sat down in his chair and demonstratively downed his coffee in one sitting.  
Then he took out his phone, in urge to do something.  
As he did, he realised that Sam had texted him.

>> Sam  
**Hey Gavin! ヾ(＾-＾)ノ  
How is work going? Want to go train with me today? Or as I know that sport is not your thing, what about going to the café again? **

 

**Sorry I can’t. work decided to be a bitch once again.  
Maybe at the weekend? **

>> Sam  
**Oh no! Sending positives vibes (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ  
And sounds good! **

It was strange that Gavin could sense her optimistic attitude trough text as well.  
“I am sorry detective, but Fowler is right.”  
Gavin jumped, as the android interrupted his thoughts.  
“Odd, how often you said you are sorry today, yet you seem like you don’t learn.”  
“We really need you up to par, if we want to finish this case.”  
Enough. Gavin got up, pushing the android away from him.  
“You really think you are better than humans, do you?”  
“Detective that is not the point.”  
He could feel how his hands started to shake again, his brain was overloaded with too many emotions today. It really felt like a rollercoaster.  
“Then, what is shithead?”  
“I wouldn’t want you to get hurt”, his voice suddenly soft.  
“Who cares about me, if androids and humans are murdered by some sick person?!”  
“Ironically, I do.”  
What.  
It’s LED flickered to yellow, back to blue and back to yellow.  
“You know what? Fowler was right, I am going home.”  
With that he took his jacked and stormed off.  
He needed some time to process things and he wouldn’t be able surrounded by all of this.  
This day was such a mess as were his emotions.  
He walked directly to his car, got in, turned the engine and slammed the gas down.  
Back home he went straight to his room and flung himself into his bed.  
It took him a few hours to calm himself down and as he did he made another decision.  
He got up, walked over to his laptop, went back to bed and booted the machine.  
“Psychotherapists Detroit”, he typed into the search bar.  
About a million results came up, he sighed.  
This was long overdue, yet he couldn’t bring himself to it … once again.  
God damn it.  
He closed his laptop, placed it on the night stand and rolled onto his side.  
In his mind the events of today replayed.  
The moment he read the email, that the corpse was identified, Ms Adler, the conversation with the android, the feeling of restlessness and anxiety. Fowler in his office. Sam’s texts. The androids face.  
The different emotions that it displayed, especially the one as he said that he cared about him.  
Fuck.  
It’s been so long since someone told him, that they cared about him. Sure, Tina did, but they still had a working relationship.  
Maybe Sam cared too, but they had known eachother for like a day.  
That was the moment Gavin realised, how pitiful his life had become. He was a good detective yes, but he had no friends. Yet again he had to think about Ms Adler and what she had said.  
“… her sacrificing everything, so she could become the person she wanted to be.”  
A shiver ran through his spine.  
Pathetic.  
It scared him how much of Laura’s life reminded him of his own somehow.  
Suddenly a knock on his door, made him sit up straight. His heart sped up.  
Who could that be? At that hour? Shit.  
He got up, got the weapon from his belt and slowly moved to his door.  
As he looked trough the peephole of the door he felt relieve flood him.  
Putting the gun back into its halter, he sighed and then opened the door. In front of him was standing the android, take out bag in one hand and a soft smile on his face.  
“I figured you haven’t eaten all day yet.”  
“Wh-“  
“I meant it, when I said, I care”, with that he stepped into the doorframe, demanding to be let in.


	7. Opening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RK decided to get to know his human partner more and he even seemed to be successful, even though humans still remained a mystery to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a light-hearted chapter, giving RK a bit more of a soul and I just wanted both to make progress in their journey to friendship, let's be honest.  
> and as you may have noticed i am trying to switch between RKs and Gavins POV - so we can see both of them struggle :')
> 
> As always, comments and kudos would be highly appreciated. It just never fails to amaze me that you guys actually read the trash I am fabricating in my mind. Thank you <3

RK placed the food on the counter in the kitchen, then opened the cabinets one after another to find plates.  
He could feel Gavin’s stare on his back but decided to ignore it for now.  
But he couldn’t resist scanning for his mood; the man was still standing next to the open door, baffled but his stress levels were content.  
Finally, he found the plates and was able to get out the food.  
“I hope you like Chinese.”  
He still was staring at him and RK and he just watched him. Gavin really was a weird guy, one he hoped he could figure out soon.  
Gavin kicked the door shut and walked closer.  
Something seemed different about the human, he seemed like he for once didn’t mind having RK near him, which filled him with some sort of pride.  
“Huh, you really do care, do you?”  
“Of course, I do, detective.”  
Gavin sighed, settling himself onto a barstool that stood next to the counters.  
“Gavin. Call me Gavin.”  
“No, I don’t want to interfere with our professional relationship.”  
As much as he would like to get closer with Gavin, he really thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to lose the professionalism they had in their … relationship. It was important to him, that they could work as a unity together and if that meant, getting to know eachother, he would – but something in his system also restrained him and warned him about getting too close.  
Apparently not only humans were hard to figure out, but also his deviated system.  
“Are you for real tin can? You tell me you care, you burst into my home with food out of our working hours and then you refuse me to call me by my first name? Don’t be ridiculous.”  
“I just … don’t understand you detective.”, he said, as he put down the plate next to him, it felt like a lie, he did not understand any of this, really, but this seemed like an easy enough excuse.  
“Meaning?”  
“You hate me … no, you despise me. You constantly are name-calling me, you are calling me ‘it’ and now you expect me to be friendly with you? I just don’t get it.”  
Something in the human’s expression changed. It got open.  
“Yes.”, he took the plate and opened a drawer next to him, to get a fork.  
RK really had thought he would get a proper answer for once.  
“Are you talking to me, or do you want me to leave?”  
“Shut your hole for a minute please.”  
Gavin sighed. RK had never seen a human sigh that often in the course of a few days.  
“You said you care … just give me a break. I can’t think. Also sit down, you are making me nervous android.”  
RK pulled another stool close and sat down. Gavin immediately seemed calmer. Nevertheless, it took him a few moments until he started to speak again. The entire time he was just staring at the food in front of him, poking it with the fork from time to time.  
“I don’t have many friends – don’t, don’t say anything. I know.  
Now, it’s just weird that an android, who shouldn’t be capable of feeling - that … you would be the one that cared. I just don’t know how to deal with that. Besides … god, that sounds pretentious…”, he paused and ran a hand through his hair.  
“ … I do really hate everything artificial, yet here I am … wanting to like you. I just … feel so troubled. I don’t know what to do or think anymore and this case is driving me insane.”  
The android got up, no longer able to fight the urge to touch his partner. Carefully he placed a hand on Gavin’s knee, crouching down in front of him. He flinched, but he didn’t move.  
“Gavin. It’s okay, we will solve this case, I promise.”  
“Hm.”, Gavin said, still staring at his food.  
Slowly RK got back up again, walking to the stool he sat on before, but pulling it closer to the other one.  
“You really should eat, you need to stay strong.”, he said, at a loss for anything else to say.  
It was interesting how their feelings seemed so similar, they both didn’t know how to deal with the situation they were faced with.

They sat together in silence and RK watched the man finish his food. He still had to process everything he just learned. He wouldn’t have thought, that Gavin would ever open up to him. A feeling he would describe as happiness bubbled in his stomach. He felt accomplished.  
As Gavin finished, he took the plate and cutlery from his hands and walked to the sink, to clean it.  
“You don’t have to.”  
“I don’t have to be here either.”, he smiled.  
Gavin just shrugged, stiffly walking into the adjoining living room, where he sat down on the couch.  
RK finished and followed into the living room. His eyes discovered the books again.  
“I wanted to ask you about these books, actually.”  
“Hm.”, his grey eyes looked at him, still lost in thought.  
“The poetry … do you like it?”  
“Yes I do.”  
“Do you have a favourite?”, he was happy that they were able to have a little small-talk. It seemed to calm Gavin.  
He got up and walked to the bookcase, it took him a few seconds until he had found the desired book.  
“It changes from time to time, if I am completely honest, but it has been this for a while now.”  
RK was surprised, that it wasn’t the copy of leaves of grass Gavin was holding, but instead it was a lavender coloured book with dark purple text on it.  
“Michelle K?”  
“Yes, she is not really known, and it has been a tumblr thing, but I do like her poetry.”  
“Tumblr?”  
Gavin shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about that, so RK just took the book out of his hands and flipped through it.  
He didn’t really understand most of what was written in it, he assumed he hasn’t had the experience to relate, but then one title caught his attention.

 

> **Skin**  
>  Take off  
>  your armor of skin,  
>  I want to see your  
>  rawness  
>  I want to know you

He felt an emotion in the back of his mind. He couldn’t quite decode it, but it reminded him of Gavin and him.  
Taking one more look, he closed the book and handed the book back to the man in front of him, who seemed rather pleased that something caught RKs attention.  
“It seems … pretty.”  
Gavin walked back to the shelf and carefully put the book back.  
“If you want to phrase it like that, yes”  
“Sorry, I seem to be missing the proper experience to relate to most of this”  
Gavin shot him a look, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
“Really, you need to stop saying sorry.”  
“But I am just being polite.”  
“Well, it’s more than annoying really.”  
RK felt, that Gavin wanted to say something else, but didn’t feel comfortable enough to do so. Why were humans so complicated? Why did they tend to sabotage themselves? This was one of the many things he still had to learn about them.  
To break the ice, that appeared to build back up, he tried to tease the human.  
“Well, that’s fortunate, because you are not less annoying, Gavin, just so you know.”  
“Hey! Watch your mouth, android”, he said, but he wasn’t as serious as he intended to sound.  
“Maybe next time.”  
“How dare you.”  
“Anyway, I should leave now and maybe you should get some sleep.”  
“Yeah, you are probably right … thanks again for the food RK”, he smiled at him, it looked a bit forced but RK was pleased that he at least tried.  
He felt accomplished that they actually seemed to get closer, he just hoped that Gavin felt that way too.  
Slowly he turned around, walking to the door and opened it.  
“Wait, how did you even get here?”  
“I walked.”  
“You walked?”  
“It’s not causing me any strain anyway.”  
Reed rubbed the back of his neck.  
“Do you want me to drive you?”  
“No, thank you, I will be fine.”  
He didn’t want to bother him, besides while walking he could think about the progress they had made.  
“If you say so.”, he shrugged.  
“Good night, Gavin.”  
“Good night.”  
He walked out and lightly closed the door behind him. Outside he thought that maybe he should have accepted the offer, but then again it was good not to force things. He had a feeling, that Gavin was like a clam. If you forced him to open, he’d probably would cut you off way faster than you could even realise.  
He straightened his shoulders, flexing his artificial muscles and then started to walk off the human’s property.  
He really needed to figure out humans and their behaviour, or their reasoning behind it. Maybe he should talk to Connor as well, especially seeing that he had lived around humans much longer than him.  
He logged into the android network to contact his predecessor.

>> Connor?  
>> Yes?  
>> I have a few questions, about humans, do you have time?  
>> Sure, do you want to meet up somewhere?

He could hear the excitement in Connors voice. Connor really liked being deviant and being around humans. It was still strange to RK, but then again, the longer he was around humans, the more he understood him. Humans really were interesting creatures.

>> Meet up? Why do you want to meet up? We could just help this conversation this way.  
>> Because it is something humans like to do.  
>> Okay then.  
>> Great! I see there is a café close to you, what about that?  
>> Uhm, sure.  
>> See you in ten.

RK accessed the map, to see which café Connor was talking about. It wasn’t that close, but it it didn’t bother him, and they were still open at least.  
He walked a little faster than usual but eventually got there. When he arrived, Connor was already there, greeting him with a big toothy grin.  
“Hey RK.”  
“Hey Connor.”  
His smaller copy opened the door and held it open for him, as they waitress immediately walked up to them.  
“Hello, can I get you anything?”  
Connor smiled at her “do you have anything thirium based?”  
“Of course”, saying that, she transferred the android menu to their mind.  
They both chose something, and she bowed, saying that they should take a seat and that their drinks will be ready soon.  
Connor and him chose a table close to them, sitting down. As soon as they sat, RK could feel Connors excitement.  
“What do you want to know?”  
“Can you tell me what emotions are and why humans seem to sabotage themselves?”  
Connor grimaced.  
“Sadly, I can’t really”  
“What I have learnt is, that everyone appears to experience emotions differently. They do have a general idea, but in the end, no emotion is the same. Besides I mostly can go off my experience with Hank.”  
“I understand … kind of”  
“It’s complicated. Humans are. But I also figured that we are as much of a mystery to them.”  
His lip curled up as he said that.  
“And for the sabotaging part … they try to do their best, but sometimes they just listen to their brain instead of their hear, I think. There is still a lot to figure out for me too though.”  
Their drinks arrived, slightly tinted blue but decorated with things their organism could break down. They looked pretty. Or what RK would describe as pretty.  
“Thanks Connor.”  
“You are welcome RK, I know I am not really much of a help … but if you want to, I can share some of my experiences with you.”  
“I’d like that”, he answered, slowly retracting the skin of his arm to reveal the whites of his android system.  
It felt a bit strange, as it was something very personal for androids to do, but then again, Connor was something like family to him under human terms.  
Connor also revealed his hand and slowly reached out to him, giving him an encouraging smile.  
As their hand touched, he was flooded with a series of images.  
Hanks dog. Hank in his home, hugging the android, telling him that he cared about him. Connor fearing that Hank could die, when they were on missions. Hanks dog again, who was playing with Connor in what appeared to be a dog park. All these pictures had a certain undertone RK couldn’t place fully.  
“Affection and Love.” Connors mind echoed quietly around him.  
He showed him more, Markus, the leader of the revolution, who was smiling at Simon. Kara, who was playing with little Alice. Pictures of smiling strangers and then the images slowly started to fade out and Connor was releasing his hand, slowly letting the skin grow back.  
Suddenly they were back in reality again.  
“Thank you, Connor. Can I ask you something?”, as he said that, he had to think of Gavin and how he would have hated the fact, that he had asked.  
“Of course.”  
“Do you see Hank and his dog as your family.”  
“Yes, I do. I know, this may sound stupid, but I deeply care about them and they are the closest thing to a family I have … besides you of course.”  
“I understand.”  
“You do?”, he seemed surprised.  
“I think so, I mean after all deviancy has completely changed our system and with that also our needs.”  
“That’s true.”  
He took his drink, turning the glass between his fingers.  
“Can I ask you something else?”  
The android next to him just nodded.  
“What do you think of detective Reed?”  
In response he just chuckled and RK just rose an eyebrow.  
“I am sorry.”, Connor said, the chuckle still saturating his words.  
He cleared his throat, even though there was no need to, directly looking into his face.  
“Well, let’s say, that Reed and I had had our … moments, but I am sure that he can be a nice human being. Hank wasn’t much different than him, to be honest and I think that he probably has his reasons to behave the way he does.”  
“Hm. Thank you for your honesty. I do think you are right and I am happy to report, that I think him and I are making progress.”  
“I am happy for you.”  
This time it was RK who smiled at Connor. He was glad that he decided to meet up with his predecessor. He felt like he had made a lot of development today.  
“Thank you for meeting up with me. I think this has helped me figure some bits out, at least the slightest a bit.”  
“I will gladly do it again, besides friends got to be there for eachother, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
_Friends_.  
They finished their drinks in comfortable silence, both lost in their own thoughts. When they were done they payed and RK walked back to the precinct while Connor went home to Hank and Sumo.  
 


	8. I put a spell on you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally figured out where the place was located, but all they could do was play the waiting game.  
> Luckily RK was able to distract his partner somewhat.  
> (this chapter contains a lot of friendly teasing)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternative title: RK is really just a tree-sized troll.  
> this is another kind of filler chapter, but we are so close.   
> The conversations were so much fun to write, i am so glad they are finally getting closer, I just really think that Nines is a goofball if known well.  
> Also thanks again for the comments and kudos I love talking to you guys :D  
> Have fun (oh, and there will be a lot of plot next chapter so I hope you are staying with me.)

The next day Gavin felt much better, he had slept well and was ready to continue the case, He even felt a little excited to do so. Once more he reminded himself, that he would take a vocation after they were done, finally seeing Europe.  
He walked into work, already seeing his android working on the case. Apparently, he was as determined to finish this as him. He couldn’t suppress a small smile.  
“Good morning, RK. Got anything new?”  
The android frowned and rubbed his forehead.  
“Unfortunately, no, I have been scanning and reverse searching those pictures for hours.”  
“I am sure you are doing your best, android.”  
“By the way, I made you coffee”, he said pointing at the cup on Gavin’s place.  
“See”, he grinned and walked to get the mug.  
He turned on his pc and discovered there hasn’t been anything new, so he just walked back to stand behind the android to watch him work.  
“Don’t you have anything to do, detective? You are making me nervous.”  
“So, I am making you nervous, tin can?”  
The android shot him a dead stare, but he just responded with his most smug smile.  
“Being human, or whatever you are turning out to be, really sucks, right?”  
The androids LED jumped to yellow. He seemed to be scanning him and for once he didn’t mind, he was in a way to good mood. Sleeping properly sometimes really worked wonders.  
“Gavin … really” the android pleaded quietly, and Reed was taken aback.  
“Sorry, tinman.”  
“It’s fine, I just really want to finish this.”  
“You are right”, he walked back to his place, “send me those pictures, so I can have a look at them too”  
The android didn’t respond, but the ping of his pc informed him, that they were sent.  
He took his time with each of the pictures, careful not to overlook any important details.  
It was on his third go-trough and second coffee when he finally found something. It was just a small detail, but he recognised the small and faded logo that was painted on the wall. He zoomed the picture closer, but unfortunately it was pretty pixelated.  
“RK. I might have found something”  
Instantly the android was next to him.  
“Do you see that?”  
“Yes … it appears to be the logo of an abandoned hall in Detroit.”  
“Exactly.”  
“How could I have missed that?”  
“You have been staring at the pictures for hours on end, it’s normal.”  
“But-“  
“Shush, c’mon let’s update Fowler and find out if we were right.”  
Gavin walked straight into Fowlers office, who was currently on the phone and frowned as he acknowledged his presence.  
“ … yes, yes, I will check that out and call you back as soon as we have more information. Goodbye.  
What do you want Reed?”  
“We found the place and I want to go there.”  
“You are not going there alone, what if the murderer is still there.”  
“I highly doubt that, besides I am not alone, RK is with me.”  
The man in the chair sighed.  
“Okay, but take one of our cars, so we can track you and you are not going inside, you are just checking out the area.”  
“Fine.” Gavin was just giddy to finally move forward with the case.  
“RK”, Fowler looked at the android.  
“Yes?”  
“Be careful and take care of Reed, he tends to be rather sloppy when it comes to his own life.”  
The android nodded, his LED circling yellow as he processed his new objective.  
Gavin turned on his heel, “let’s go” and the android followed.  
“Reed you should put on a vest, just to be safe.”  
The human obliged, just so they could finally be on their way. Then he walked out not waiting for RK to catch up. Outside, the detective walked in the opposite direction than he usually did to take on of the cars from the DPD.  
They were one of the newest models, self-driving and high security and even though he didn’t really like them, it could be handy in times.  
As usual the team drove in silence until they arrived at the place.  
“Can you scan anything?”  
“I am not sure I want to.”  
“You have to.”  
Every expression from his face disappeared as he ran the scans.  
“The bodies … or rather their parts are still there.”  
Gavin shuddered.  
“I really wish we could go in right now, maybe there is some evidence.”  
“No.”  
“I knew you would say that.”  
“I just don’t want you do get hurt.”, the android looked at him and Gavin sighed.  
He knew he was right, as he usually was, it was just so tempting.  
“Let’s go back and inform Fowler so he can assemble a team.”  
He sighed and pushed a few buttons, so the car would drive them back.  
“Hopfully not other body turns up in the meantime.”  
“And even if so, Gavin, there is really not much we can do about it.”, his voice had that weird softness in it again.  
“I know …”  
“It would be foolish to go in and we would risk losing our progress.”  
“You are right, you are right.”  
“Of course I am”, he answered teasingly, in attempt to distract him.  
“I am just happy when I finally can take a break after all that”  
“Oh, so you are planning on taking a vocation”  
“Yes.”  
“Do you want to go somewhere?”, the android insisted, happy that his partner was taking the bait for the small talk.   
“Actually yes, I want to go to Europe, it’s been a dream ever since I was little.”  
Interesting. “How so?”  
“My grandparents met while traveling Europe”  
“You seem to love your grandparents.”, the android smiled slightly at him.  
“They used to be my rock, they have been there for me, when no one was.”  
He could see RKs LED flicker to yellow, he expected another question, but it didn’t come. They reached the precinct and walked straight into Fowlers office.  
“The bodies are still there”, Gavin coolly stated.  
“You need to set up a team, now. We need to check out the venue.”  
Gavin was surprised at the boldness the android was displaying.  
As was Fowler who simply nodded.  
“We will need some time still, Reed, RK900 I know you want to go in there as soon as possible, but we won’t do it before tomorrow. I need to get the team prepared. This could turn into something more dangerous all too quickly. “  
What. Is he fucking insane?! RK seemed to sense that Gavin’s blood levels were rising, he placed a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.  
He turned on his heel, angrily pushing open the door and walking out of the precinct. It’s really sad how smoking was always his last resort and he knew that he always made sad excuses for that, but right now he didn’t mind.  
His hand was shaking as he lit the cigarette.  
“We will find the murderer, Gavin.”  
He turned around, staring at the android.  
“I know you are angry and I too wish that we could handle this much faster, but we need to be prepared. We want to catch them and therefore we need to think one step ahead.”  
Gavin didn’t know what to do, there was just so much anger in him.  
“Not to offend you-“, the RK carefully started.  
“People who start their sentences with “not to offend” usually offend, so just don’t say it.”  
“Well then, full offence, but you should get help.”  
“Not you too”  
“If I am not the only one saying that, there must be something true about it, right.”  
“Are you trying to distract me?”, he couldn’t help but grin.  
“Yes. Is it working?”   
“Not really, but thanks for trying.”  
“But I do think you should get help with your emotions.”  
“Uhm, excuse me, you don’t even know what emotions are, robot.”  
“Oh c’mon Gavin, you have been wittier before.”  
“Fuck you.”  
“See?”  
Gavin didn’t want to admit it, but the android was distracting him, even though it was just barely working.  
“You said you wanted to see Europe after that case? Any special cities you want to see?”  
“Amsterdam probably.”  
“Is there are reasoning behind that?”  
“My grandfather really loved Van Gogh, so I thought it would be fitting. Besides, I like the aesthetic of the city and I think I will be able to most of in a few days. And crime never sleeps, so I don’t want to go for too long.”  
“That might be true.”  
“Don’t you want to see something else besides Detroit?”  
“I am pretty occupied with understanding humans right now.”  
Gavin couldn’t help but laugh and in reaction to this the androids LED flickered yellow.  
“I am human and not even I understand humanity – so scratch that off your to-do list. Saves a lot of time.”  
“You really are good at cheering up, people.”, RK answered sarcastically   
“Yes. It’s one of my qualities. Let’s get back in.”  
As he was back inside Gavin demonstratable went into the break room to get coffee.   
RK was sitting at his desk looking pretty focused.   
“What are you doing?”  
“I was investigating the hall, downloading floorplans and researching the history.”  
“Good idea, anything interesting?”  
“Well, one of us has to work”  
“Careful, android.”  
“Uh, I am scared.”  
“Seriously, what is wrong with you? Have you downloaded a teasing mod or what happened?”  
“No. You just didn’t know me well enough, besides it’s fun.”, he smirked at him.  
How dare was that thing, though Gavin was glad that he tried to keep things light-hearted and tried to distract them both from this situation, especially since it wasn’t very professional  
“Bully”  
“You probably have a lot of experience.”  
“What are you implying”  
“Nothing.”  
“I swear to everything, I hate you.”  
“No, you don’t”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, I can sense you are lying.”  
“Fuck you, tincan.”  
RKs grin kept getting bigger and bigger as their conversation went on, he really did enjoy teasing Gavin, who had to fight the urge to kick the android.  
“I liked you better when we weren’t talking.”  
“Sure.”, he turned at him, still grinning and winking at him.  
What the fuck.  
“You are more like Connor than you probably realise, just so you know, dipshit.”  
Conner’s head perked up, as he heard his name, but Hank seemed to whisper something to him, so he quickly lowered his gaze again.  
“I don’t think you understand the concept of ‘predecessor’, detective.”  
“Are you now implying that I am stupid.”  
“I wasn’t, but if you want to take it that way, feel free to do so.”  
That was it, he couldn’t contain himself any longer and kicked after the android, who just started laughing shamelessly.   
“Fuck you, seriously.”  
“Sure, Reed.”  
Gavin who was now grinning too, decided they had to get their shit together, even though he’d rather keep joking around. The last few days have been too serious, he even wished for a simple red ice case.  
“So, the hall?”  
“It’s been empty since 2028 and hasn’t been used by the owning company since. I’ve also tried contacting the owner but haven’t gotten an answer yet.”  
“Okay. Is there anything I can do?”  
“I fear the only thing left to do is wait”  
Gavin sighed, he didn’t like waiting and he willed Fowler in his mind to work faster. The android started typing swiftly.  
“What are you doing?”  
“I’ve E-Mailed Fowler the floor plan and how I think I he should assemble the teams. Additionally, I said I want Connor in. I think having two of us will come in handy just in case. Besides, maybe it will make it easier to identify all the bodies.”  
“Fowler will be mad, he doesn’t like being told what to do.”  
“Who does? But I am just doing my job, after all I am able to evaluate situations better than any human being, that is what I was built for after all.”, the RK smirked but there was something callous behind it.  
“I never thought I’d say that, especially not that soon, but I am glad to have you here.”  
“I am happy too, but I am still a person of my own I won’t do anything I don’t want to.”  
“Do you really think I would-“, the look on the androids face made him stop midsentence, “okay, I understand what you are getting at. It’s still weird to me that you have your own minds now.”  
“You’ll have to learn to live with that.”  
He was right, Gavin didn’t focus on the bitter feeling, building in his stomach. His android wasn’t so bad after all and the same goes for Connor, even though he hasn’t admitted that aloud yet. Since he was here Hank was much calmer and they even had spoken from time to time without wanting to murder eachother.   
He had to learn to live with that, or he’d end up wasting too much energy and he didn’t want to make that mistake again.   
Quietly he sighed.  
“What are you thinking about?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Liar.”  
“See, I really don’t want to talk about that right now.”  
“So, it’s something personal then.”  
“Yes. Please stop pulling everything out of me.”  
“Sor- I mean, that’s okay, but if you want, I will gladly listen.”  
“Thanks, tin can, but no thanks.”  
RK shrugged in response, it wasn’t like he was going anywhere.  
The rest of the shift was highly uneventful, they were idling around, RK was talking to Conner and Hank and Gavin tried to keep his mind busy. He even thought about texting Sam again, but he decided against that.  
 


	9. Miss murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: Call me by my name   
> It was time: they finally went to the place, but of course something had to go wrong and Gavin got shot.  
> This chapter may also be a bit sappy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo early update, because I couldn't stop myself.  
>  _Friends_ I am just really into this now so I thought I'd share my excitement with you
> 
> As always, kudos and comments keep me motivated as heck so feel free to leave both.
> 
> Have fun.

RK watched Gavin gather his things, he was feeling very content, they had made so much progress today. Not only has his partner found the venue the bodies were hidden, also he felt like they were finally becoming friends. Even though he thought it would take them much longer.  
Maybe it was because the human really was just in need of a friend … or they just clicked really well.  
He smiled to himself.  
“Why are you smiling like that, plastic tree?”  
“I feel like we are just really close to solving this”, he half-lied.  
“I hope you are right”, the human held his breath for 5 seconds. Interesting.  
“Is there something, Gavin?”  
“Are you scanning me?” he seemed lightly offended.  
“There is no need to, the more I get to know you, the easier you are to read.”  
“Did you just call me shallow?!”, now he really appeared offended. Weird. Seemingly he cared about what he was thinking about him.  
“By any means no.”  
They both sighed in unison.  
Gavin looked directly into his eyes, “You are getting scary”  
“Shut up.”  
“Stop turning into me. This instant.”  
“I am not sure what you are talking about.”, he grinned.  
“You exactly do, don’t lie, bastard.”  
“Spoilsport.”  
“Do you want to come with me? I still think it’s weird that you just stay here.”  
What? This took him by that much surprise, that he had to take a moment to process.  
“I am not that much of an open book, in the end, am I?”  
“Apparently. I do would like to come with you.”  
“Then c’mon. I really want to get some food and go home.”  
He happily followed.   
On the drive to Gavin’s home they fell into their usual silence, he really could get used to that feeling. They just made a short stop at one of the fast food restaurants, to get the human some food.  
As they arrived, he flung himself on the couch.   
“Get yourself comfortable.”  
He wasn’t sure where though, part of him wanted to sit with Gavin in the living room and the other part wanted to explore the home further. He didn’t know when he’d get another chance after all.  
Indecisively he stood there for a few minutes, while Gavin was happily munching on his food.  
“Are you stuck, or what is wrong?”  
He didn’t know what to answer and Gavin seemed to get uneasy.  
“Stop behaving so strangely or this is the last time you will be staying over. What if you go berserk on me or something.”, he knew that the man wasn’t all to serious, but he was right.  
He felt weird too.  
“Do you mind, if I look around?”  
“Uh … I mean there won’t be much of interest, but if you want to, go for it. Hands of my drawers though.”  
Now he was interested, what was he hiding in his drawers?  
“I can hear you think, hands of or I single-handedly will rip yours out.”  
Finally, he set himself in motion, and his partner was right. There wasn’t much of interest, besides the drawers of course, but he didn’t dare. He didn’t want to ruin his progress with Gavin.  
And maybe he would tell him, what was inside there, once they increased their friendship.  
He walked back into the living room, Gavin was still sprawled out on the couch.  
RK sat himself into the armchair, that was standing by the bookshelf.  
“Gavin?”  
“Hmm?”  
“Do you see me as a friend, or will you be able too?”  
The human stared at him, stiffly sitting up, which increased the space in between them.  
He went to far. Something in his system blared – no.  
“Well, I wouldn’t say friend. But I don’t despise you anymore and … I am not sure if I will ever be able to see you as a friend.”  
“Sorry” he added, as he registered the look on the android’s face.  
“I made you uncomfortable, I shouldn’t have asked, sorry.”  
He got up, walked to the door and was about to open the door.  
“Where are you going?”  
“I am leaving. I understand I overstepped my boundaries, this won’t happen again, detective.”  
He felt his thirium pump sink to the bottom, as humans would say.  
“What the fuck?”  
To his surprise the human got up.   
“I’m not a fucking snowflake, I didn’t take any offence, god damn. You can stay.”  
“But.”  
“But what? I don’t understand you android. One time you are trying to get close and then you are acting like a fucking machine again. Can you please decide?”, he rubbed his temples. One of his well-known habits by now.  
“I just-“  
“You just, c’mon, you are worse than I am - and I can’t even stand myself most of the time.”  
What was he saying? He tilted his head, trying to understand.  
“Sit.”, Gavin persisted, pulling him by his right ft arm.  
He didn’t know what else to do, he didn’t want to upset the man further and he was torn himself.  
This was one of the moments he wished he hadn’t turned deviant. Things would have been much simpler, he could have followed simple tasks, but now he had to deal with emotions.  
Gavin sat back on the couch again, patting next to him.  
It was strange sitting so close to the human.  
“Talk.”  
What.  
“You always want me to talk, always trying to understand me … now it’s your turn robot.”  
He looked at his face, searching for any emotion, but he couldn’t find anything.   
“Everything is just so confusing and overwhelming at the same time.”  
“Welcome to my world.”  
RK was tempted to ask him, what he meant by that, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. His partner just seemed insistent right now.  
“I just really don’t know.”  
“Go on, I am listening.”  
“Can I ask you something first?”  
“No. Talk.”  
“I don’t want to think about that right now.”  
Gavin’s expression shifted. Soft. Understanding.  
“I know. Go on.”  
And then it spilled out of him.  
“I don’t know, I want to be friends with you, something about you is just utterly intriguing and I am really interested in getting to know you. But it’s not only you – don’t get cocky. Humans in general are … interesting. At the same time my system tells me, that my actions aren’t very professional, and I hate that. It could risk a lot. I won’t be able to stay objective anymore. That’s just not what I was build for you know. Everything is just feeling like the wrong decision. And everything I want to achieve seems to be the polar opposite of each other. I … just…”  
He covered his face with his hands, his mind racing. Saying that out loud made everything so real, now he couldn’t ignore this anymore.   
The man next to him breathed in deeply, trying to understand the things he just had heard and then he shifted.   
Suddenly there was a hand on his knee, this got him out of his train of thought for a second.  
“Listen.”  
He was.  
“You turned deviant right … that means, as far as I am able to understand, that your system is able to do things it wasn’t programmed to do. Which means at the same time, you are not the thing you used to be. I can’t believe I am saying this – so listen closely, I am not repeating myself, tin can.”, he paused for a second.  
“I would even dare to say that you are being human, or at least turning more and more human by the minute. I do not fully grasp yet, how that is working – without a soul and everything, but apparently it is. Being human means being imperfect, making mistakes. Having to choose, never knowing what is right or wrong in the end but making the best of it. Even if it is confusing or painful.   
Sometimes there might be a middle ground, but more often than not, there isn’t. Sadly.  
But I am sure that you will figure out something you are comfortable with on the long run. Nobody expects you to understand everything immediately … or ever. After all you are still basically a baby.”, he could hear the teasing note in his voice.  
Carefully Gavin was pulling on his hands, wanting to see his face, but he felt so raw right now, he just wanted to hide.  
“Look at me when I am talking to you.”  
Slowly he let his hands sink to his knees, sighing but not daring to look into the human’s eyes, he was scared of what he would find there.  
“You know what, you need an actual name.”  
He finally watched at him, looking him directly into his eyes, trying to find disgust, hatred or mockery, but there wasn’t.  
“Just call me RK or Nines, I am fine with that.”  
“A human one, I meant.”  
“I …”  
“What about Richard?”, now there was something in Gavin’s gaze he couldn’t place.  
He thought about it for a second, he liked the ring to it.  
“I think I’d like that.”  
“Great.”, Gavin grinned.  
“What?”  
“Just google the nickname, or whatever you do.”  
Oh. He punched the human in the shoulder.  
“Ouch.”  
“I would still like to be called that … I think.”  
“Alright.”  
The man scooted away, leaving him alone in his personal space.  
“Thank you, Gavin, really.”  
“No big, but you owe me.”  
Now he grinned too.  
“So, we are friends now.”  
The human groaned, dramatically slapping his hand on his forehead.  
“You are fucking annoying, Richard.”  
Hearing his name was as good as hearing they were friends, he was content.  
“Anyway, I am going to sleep, I’ll need to be rested tomorrow.”  
“Thanks again.”  
“Don’t mention it, really.”  
With that he disappeared in his room and Richard was left alone.   
His mind was still overwhelmed with everything, but he knew, Gavin was right. He’d probably spoken out of his own experience.  
He sighed and initialised stasis mode.

The next morning, he decided to make coffee for Gavin again, it was the least he could do right now.  
A few minutes later he padded out of his room, still sleepy and dishevelled hair. It made him look so young and old at the same time.  
Richard opened his mouth to say something but didn’t as the man mechanically walked into the bathroom and he heard the shower turn on.  
In need of having to do something, he opened one of the windows in the kitchen. The chill early autumn air flooded in, his mind was railing with thoughts, he could see that his LED was flickering like crazy.  
Soon enough it would be cold, and the trees would lose their leaves.   
Change was a weird concept for him, everything was so static about him, but everything around him was constantly changing.  
Maybe that was another reason why Gavin disliked his kind.  
“What are you thinking about, Richard?”, he yawned.  
“No-“  
“It’s not nothing, I can see your LED and I am not stupid.”  
“I will be fine, you should drink your coffee and get ready, so we can go to the office.”  
“I can drink and talk at the same time.”  
“We need to focus on the case, Gavin.”  
He shrugged, taking the coffee slowly taking a sip.  
“You do make good coffee though, have I told you that?”  
He smiled, “thanks.”  
The man just shrugged again and started walking to the door, coffee still in hand.  
But Richard could see the hesitation in his body, but he eventually walked out, lighting a cigarette.  
He followed him, quietly standing next to him.  
“I hope, we can finish the case today. This is really nagging on me.”  
“Yes, me too, Gavin. Though I must admit that it is strange, that no new body has turned up.”  
“Sh, don’t”  
Gavin finished his cigarette and coffee, putting the cup back in and then walking to his car.  
Quietly he followed him, getting into the car, waiting for him to drive off.  
As they reached the precinct, Fowler was standing outside of his office, waiting for them to turn up.  
“Good morning Reed, RK. I have assembled the teams and as RK … suggested, Connor and Hank will come with you. Also Chen and some from the K9 team.”  
Gavin sighed, but didn’t protest.  
Connor and Hank walked up, Connor smiled at them while Hank just nodded, and Richard nodded in return.

>> You okay, Nines?  
>> Yes, I am. I just want to finish this case.

He could feel the doubt in Connor but didn’t want to talk about it right now.

>> Okay, but if you want to talk, I am here  
>> Thanks

He then tried to focus on Fowler, who was instructing them on what to do.  
“Be careful.”, he ended.  
Gavin immediately walked off to get on and he followed.   
Connor closely behind him, together with Hank  
The rest of the team followed them, quietly chatting about the case.   
Suddenly Gavin took a turn into the dressing rooms and the men followed while the women went to the other side. Once they were all equipped with their uniforms they made their way to the cars.  
The chatting had now stopped, all of them was focused on the case.  
Richard swiftly got into one of the cars, waiting for Gavin to join him. Quickly he scanned him, his stress level was slowly rising, now that things got real.  
“It’s gonna be okay soon.”  
He just shot him a look, his breath to steady he was focused on it.  
The man typed in the address, letting the car drive them. The other cars close behind.  
Once the reached the venue Gavin just sat there for a few seconds, a normal human probably wouldn’t have noticed, but Richard did.  
Gavin turned his head to him.  
“Be careful in there.”  
“You too, Gavin.”, he answered, though he knew he’d look out for the human, who just nodded and got out of the car and walked to the hall.  
Richard got out too, Connor directly at his side.  
In close formation they walked forward and all to quickly they have reached the entrance.   
Him and Connor scanned the area, nothing had changed, so they gave the sing to enter.  
Inside they all needed a moment, it was all much worse, than the pictures they all had seen had let to believe.  
The smell was horrendous, the decaying human bodies being eaten by maggots while the android parts just lay there, marking the lives they once belonged to.

>> This is …, Connors voice echoed inside him.  
>> awful indeed.

He walked closer, scanning and identifying the parts.  
Suddenly they heard a strange noise, the humans stiffened, and the androids went on high alert.  
There was movement in a corner.  
“Leave”, an android voice called, his LED blaring red.  
The voice was distorted. Nothing like they had ever heard, “She will come and get you. Especially the androids.”, and then he shut down. Just like that.  
Connor and he shared a look.   
Unexpectedly there was a explosion, the humans scrambled, all of them pulling their weapons, turning back to the entrance.  
In it was standing … a woman? Richard ran a scan.  
She was partly human, but she had android parts attached to her. He ran to Gavin, who was – of course – standing the closest to her, his gun pointed at her face.  
His stance shifted as he reached him and Richard had to fight the urge to stand in front of him, to protect him.  
“Who are you?”, Gavin asked, but he couldn’t supress the shiver in his voice.  
The woman, human, thing just laughed stepped aside and revealed 5 other androids standing behind her. They had weapons and looked so strange.  
The androids had no optical units, there LED’s were a constant red.

>> ṣ̴̗͐̇h̵̤̃͋̋̚ͅơ̥͔̣͊͆̊̆̏ọ͙͖̜̬̼̤t̪̭̝̾͋͒ͫ͞ͅ, she ordered, and Connor and Richard were flinching, as she had used their internal network.   
They opened the fire; a precise shot of Gavin took one of the android slaves down. If the situation wasn’t as dangerous, he’d probably found that impressive.  
A bullet even hit the woman, who was screaming in agony, her voice as inhumane as ever.   
Something blared in Richards mind, a warning. A bullet was about to hit Gavin, his chance of survival was about 51%. Too little. He quickly moved in front of him, pulling him aside.   
The bullet hit him instead, but it wouldn’t be lethal.   
Connor quickly jumped to their side, holding the woman. She was to one who pulled the trigger and was now screeching in his predecessors’ arms, who struggled to keep her down. Luckily Hank was at his side soon enough, pointing a gun to her temple.   
“Stop it, you are captured.”

She still fought, but it was clear, that they had her.  
Richard was flooded with relieve. He quickly looked down at the human that was staring up at him.  
“What the fuck Richard?”  
“Are you okay, Gavin?”  
“ _You_ are bleeding.”   
“I will be fine, the wound is none lethal and you could have died.”  
“You are insane.”, he hissed.  
The android was taken aback by the sudden tone in his voice, he took a step back, giving him space.   
Gavin stood back up, quickly checking himself and then staring at him.  
What was that.  
Then he walked over to Hank and Conner who now had their target in shackles, Richard could see that something troubled him.  
“Are you the murderer?”  
She just laughed again.  
“Why do you ask? Do you think one human being wouldn’t be able to do this? Well I did. And I failed, that’s life.”  
This just seemed too simple.   
He could see the sceptical look in Hank’s and Gavin’s faces.

>> Connor.  
>> I agree, this doesn’t feel like the solution.

“Get her to the car”, Gavin called frustrated, ready to go and get more out of her.  
He stepped over the now dead androids and quickly walked to his car.  
Richard looked at Connor who looked lost and he himself felt the expression on his face.

>> Something is wrong with Gavin, maybe you should follow. Don’t worry, we got the situation.

Connor padded him on the shoulder, smiling at him encouragingly.  
He was right, quickly he followed his partner, stepping over the androids himself, but he couldn’t help but look at them. These poor things, they sure were tortured.  
Walking quickly, he went after Gavin, who sat in the car already, the wound in his shoulder going almost unnoticed.


	10. wolf in sheep's clothing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin was done. with Richard, with the world, with everything.

“What’s wrong Gavin.”  
“Shut up - also you are bleeding all over the car seat.”  
He scanned the human, his stress-levels were okay, considering they situation they just had been in.  
“The thirium will evaporate soon, then your eyes won’t be able to see it anymore.”  
“Just shut up, please.”  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Am I stuttering?”  
He was staring out of the window, frozen in place his hands around the steering wheel.  
“Don’t you need to go into service or something?”  
“There is a repair place close to the DPD, I can walk there after we are back.”  
Turning his head Gavin just stared at him, appraising.  
“Are you insane?”  
Something seemed to bother him, yet he was not talking directly.  
“Gavin. What is it?”  
“You just risked your life and now you play it off like it is nothing.”  
“But it was nothing to me. My parts can be replaced or repaired even, I will be fine.”  
“That’s the point.”, he slammed his hand on the wheel.  
“I don’t think I understand what are you getting at Gav-“  
“Please just shut up.”  
Richard was getting frustrated, he just wanted to try and understand him.  
“Let me understand you.”  
“I don’t understand myself.”, he scowled.  
“Is it one thing that is bothering or multiple.”  
“Everything.”  
“Okay.”  
“Let’s get you into repair.”  
He wanted to argue that it wasn’t that urgent, and they easily could drive to the precinct, but decided against it.  
“Tell me where to drive.”  
“Just put in the address.”  
“I need something to do, let me.”  
Fine, if he wanted to, he should, he told him where to drive, always quietly assessing him. He didn’t think something like this would throw the human off that much, but it did.  
It was tempting to keep perusing too, but the chance that he would drive them into a wall was too high.  
Richard was glad that they arrived at the place soon enough, the air has gotten thicker and thicker by all the unsaid words.  
Inside – he was surprised that Gavin followed him – they quickly got out the bullet and luckily, they didn’t need to exchange the unit. Quickly he was fixed, and they were done in less than ten minutes, he just had to wait for the skin to grow back over the wound again.  
Gavin was constantly watching him closely, his eyes growing wide from time to time.  
He pulled the jacket over his shoulder, he’d need to order a new one, and signed Gavin that they were done.  
By the time they were back at the precinct Gavin had calmed down noticeably, sprightly walking into Fowlers office, to report what had happened. Meanwhile he decided to talk to Connor.

>> I assume you got here okay?  
>> Yes, she is safely in one of the cells. Hasn’t even protested. Are you alright?  
>> Mostly, yes. You did a good job today.  
Connor smiled at him.  
>> You too.  
“I’m taking the rest of the day off, tin can.”, his partner reported, once he got back out of the office.  
What why? Doesn’t he want to interrogate the woman?  
He ran after him, he was walking quickly.  
“Where are you going?”  
“Home.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I can.”  
He was still following as his partner suddenly turned around.  
“Please, leave me alone android, I need some space.”  
Android. Somehow that hurt him more than it should have.  
Stepping back, he looked at the smaller man, waiting for something else, but he just turned around and left him there.

Only when Gavin was outside he dared to breathe again.  
He just felt so confused and he needed to distract himself, so he decided to text Sam.

Sam   
**Hey Sam, do you have time? Work’s still a bitch, need to get out.**

****

********

Actually yes, just got off work, if you come and get me, we can go somewhere. ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

********

********

Great, just text me the directions and I will be there.

********

His phone pinged again, notifying him with the instructions and luckily it wasn’t that far away.  
He lit one more cigarette and then drove off to get Sam.  
When he arrived, she was standing outside a public school, neatly dressed a smile playing on her face. He wished that some of her attitude would rub off on him, if he only kept being around her for long enough.  
As soon as she opened the car, he instantly felt less stressed.  
“Hey what’s up, you seem extremely tense”, a small frown now replaced her smile. It was not a good look on her.  
“Work.”, he could see that she not fully believed him.  
To keep her from asking, he tried to initialise small-talk.  
“How was your day? Any children murdering eachother?”  
“Almost, but thankfully no”, now she was smiling again, “but other than that, my day was good, there is nothing I would complain about.”  
“That’s good to hear.”  
“If you want to tal-“  
“No. Where to you want to go?”  
“What about the park, it’s a nice day to have a walk.”  
“Okay. If you lead the way.”, honestly, he was fine with everything by now.  
“Don’t worry, it’s close by.”  
Again, she was right. They arrived in a bit more than 5 minutes. Gavin parked the car and they got out.  
“I love this park”, she smiled and walked a bit in front of him, motioning him to follow, “you know, fall is probably my favourite season.”  
“Mine too, I think.”  
Sam turned around, walking backwards.  
“I just love the atmosphere, the early morning fog, the crunching leaves, the colours.”, a dreamy look passed over her face, then she turned back, walking directly to a bank that was placed under a tree.  
Waiting for him to catch up, she tucked at her hair.  
As he was close she sat down, looking at her feet, still smiling.  
Gavin sat down next to her and then she looked at him, suddenly there was something in her eyes. Some sort of energy. He shivered.  
“You sure you don’t want to talk about what happened?”  
“Positive.”  
“C’mon Gav, I know, we don’t know each other very well, but I like you and I can see something is bothering you.”  
_I like you._ What. He watched her, trying to figure out whether she was serious or not.  
She was so strange, so easy going and friendly – it also freaked him out a bit, but over all he felt comfortable around her. Maybe that is why he texted her in the first place.  
God, he really needed to stop overthinking.  
He ruffled his hair.  
“So?”, Sam insisted.  
Sighing he gave in, “It’s just the case I am currently working on – it has been crazy. Besides that, I got a new partner and I am just not used to being in a team … and he is weird sometimes.”  
“But the case will eventually be over right? And I assume that your partner is not as weird once you get to know him.”  
“You are right with the case, not with my partner.”  
She laughed, “Gavin, cut him some slack! You sound like my pupils, and they are seven.”  
“Hey.”  
The laugh turned into a bright grin, “Just saying.”  
“Yeah, yeah, I get you.”  
“Promise you will be nice?”, she teased, patting him on the head. He had to roll his eyes at her. That woman was nuts, but oddly refreshing.  
“okay, okay.”  
“Good boy”  
Jumping up from the bench, he stared at her which just sent her into more salves of laughter.  
“This-is-hilarious”, she breathed out between catching her breath.  
“So you think I am pathetic?”  
“What? No.”, she whipped a tear, “I like your stubbornness, reminds me of my brother.”  
Friendzoned.  
“Ph.”  
“Oh c’mon, cheer up. I get it work is tense, but you need to switch it off.”, now she looked sincere again. He just stared at her, still standing and not sure what to make of the situation.  
“Want to hear something funny? When I am sad or stressed I just put on some music I like and start dancing. Kind of like an emergency dance party.  
“Please. Don’t.”  
The woman in front of him just shrugged, patting next to her, so he would sit back down again.  
“You are weird, do you know that?”  
“But you still wanted to meet up with me.” Exposed. Blood rushed to his ears and up his neck.  
Fuck. Once more he ruffled his hear.  
“Yes.”  
Sam beamed at him, poking him into his sides with her index finger.  
“I’m glad you did. I need to get more friends anyways.”  
He rose an eyebrow at her.  
“I haven’t been in Detroit for long.”  
Oh.  
“Where are you from?”  
Suddenly she seemed uncomfortable, she did not want to talk about that right now. He understood, he didn’t like talking about his past either. Who was he to judge.  
“It’s fine Sam, you don’t have to tell me.”  
“Thanks. I am just … not comfortable with my past.”  
“I understand.”  
“I have a feeling you do.”  
Now it was his turn to pat her on the knee.  
“You know, I am curious about you, Gavin.”  
Of course, she was, he couldn’t help but smirk.  
This time it was her who jumped up, jumping from foot to foot.  
“Let’s have a walk.”  
Baffled he also stood up, looking at her. Those mood swings really gave him a hard time, but maybe it was just her trying to get not too awkward.  
Sam grabbed him by his wrist, pulling him forward, she was surprisingly strong, her training seemed to pay off. Being “the good boy”, he was, he followed her.  
She didn’t let go of his hand though, the whole time they walked, and it might have taken them a good half an hour, to circle the park once.  
They came to a halt at Gavin’s car.  
“Want me to drive you home?”  
All of a sudden, she seemed timid, looking at him from under her lashes.  
“Actually, I’d like to see your place.”  
Huh. He didn’t expect that. Was she implying something? He could take the chance.  
“Sure, I mean I haven’t cleaned but.”  
“Great”, she was smiling again.  
She opened the passenger side and got in while he walked around the car.  
They had some more meaningless small talk until they arrived at his place and he suddenly slammed his breaks.  
“What is it Gavin?!” she half-screamed.  
“My fucking partner. He is standing there.”  
And it was true, in front of his door, was standing Richard, apparently waiting for him to come home.  
How dare was that trash can.  
Sam looked at him with dilated eyes and then looked at Richard.  
“He … he is an android?”  
“Yes.”, he answered, pinching his nose and thanking everything supernatural in this world that there was nobody behind them when he slammed the breaks.  
“Is that why you said that he is weird?”, the changed tone in her voice made him look at her.  
“Partly.”  
“Oh. Do you hate androids?”  
He was confused, why was she behaving so weirdly all of a sudden? Yes, he had scared her and he had probably overreacted, but why would it matter now that Richard was an android.  
Then a suspicion struck him.  
“I don’t know if I hate them, at least not anymore. This shit fucking risked his life today, so I wouldn’t get shot.”  
Still he didn’t dare to look at her.  
“Can you let me out please? I think…”  
What. Now he had to look at her, she was still smiling weakly, but she seemed hurt.  
“Or at least drive to the side please.”  
He followed her order and felt her gaze on him the whole time.  
“I think there is something, I should tell you … and if you want an explanation after, just tell me.”  
The suspicion in his mind grew bigger and bigger, was that possible?  
Once he parked the car he finally was looking at her again, slightly turning his body to her, to motion her somehow to go on.  
Sam’s voice was not much more than a whisper now, “Gavin.”  
Slowly she put her hand closer to his face, so he could see.  
All he could do was stare at the hand, which slowly turned white in front of him, revealing android parts.  
“H-How?”  
Sam put her hand back on her knee, watching it herself.  
“I am sorry, I should have told you sooner. I just … had many bad experiences in the past.”  
“But you were training and eating? How?”  
A laugh escaped her mouth, but it didn’t sound as happy as it usually did.  
“You really don’t know a lot about deviant androids, do you?”  
“No.”  
“Do you want to?”  
“Are you asking me, if I want to keep seeing you?”  
Did he? He liked her. She lied to him. No, she didn’t lie. She just didn’t tell him about her, he hasn’t told her about his past either.  
He slammed his head on the steering wheel.  
Sam jumped next to him.  
“Is that a no?”  
He gritted his teeth, “no.”  
“no?”  
“I really don’t give a fuck anymore.”  
“Sorry, Gavin.”  
“’s not your fault I suppose.”  
“Okay … do you want me to tell you?”  
“Not right now. I need some time to think.”  
“Okay.”  
“Want me to drive you home?”  
“I think I’ll walk. I will be fine.”  
“Right android powers”, he turned his head, to watch her. Softly she smiled at him.  
“Besides I think your partner wants to talk to you. He seems worried.”  
“He has been talking to you.”  
“Yes.”  
“Nosy bastard.”  
“Agreed.”, she laughed, “But if it helps. I think he is nice and he cares about you.”  
“Awe-fucking-some.”  
She placed a hand on his shoulder.  
“Text me, when you want to talk.”  
“Kay.”, he sighed, finally sitting back up again.  
In the motion of opening the door, she turned around once more and grinned at him in reassurance.  
He barely was able to stop his muscles from grimacing, so he just got out of his car, leaving it right where he parked it.  
Then he walked straight to his door, feeling Richards mustering gaze on him. Ignoring him he opened the door, but left it open, so the he would follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry?????


	11. hold me close (let me go)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard is getting Gavin fed and also is trying to understand him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for the late update, my mental health has been a bitch and i just couldn't get myself to write.  
> This is just a fluff chapter, getting the idiots even closer. ;A;  
> Sorry it is nothing big, i hope you are still able to enjoy it.

Gavin walked straight into his bedroom and let himself fall on his bed. Face first, fully clothed and done with this week.  
From the corner of his eye he could see Richard standing in the doorframe, as stoical as always.  
“I can see you standing there”, he spoke into his pillow, his voice muffled.   
“I was worried, Gavin.”  
“That’s your problem.”  
Richard walked closer, now standing on the other side of the bed.  
“Talk to me.”  
“No.”  
“Yes. You forced me to talk to you the last time and it helped me.”  
“Seriously, fuck off.”  
“That android seemed nice, do you like her?”, Richard insisted.  
“That is most definitely none of your business, Richard.”  
“I know … but just a few days ago you said you didn’t like our kind and now you were on a date with one.”  
“it wasn’t a date.”  
“It wasn’t?”  
Gavin groaned into his cushion, rolling onto his back so he could sit back up.  
“No. We are friends. Kind of, probably.”  
“oh.” He sounded hurt.   
“We are friends too tin can. Stop that tone you have going on.”  
He could see the LED flicker.  
Gavin sat up in one swift motion, crossing his legs.  
“Is that why you got upset that I protected you?”  
“Partly.”  
“Tell me, please.”  
He groaned again, “I am not exactly sure though. I usually suppress emotion. So.”  
Wiggling around slightly he tucked at his jeans.  
“Sit”  
Richard followed, sitting at the edge of the bed he was standing on.  
“So. You may know I detested androids. I still do. I mean, … something happened in my past that is why, and no – I don’t want to talk about that just here and now.”, he looked at him, to stop the android from asking.   
He just wanted to talk for now, otherwise he might change his mind.  
“anyway, that thought is still inclined in me – and how fucking dare are you to possibly save my life, tin can. Especially after I treated you like shit. I want to hate you, but I can’t because you make it fucking impossible.  
And then there is Sam. I didn’t even know she was an android a few minutes ago. I like her.   
Do you understand my denial?”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
“How can you want to hate someone when you like them, why don’t you just embrace liking them?”  
“I… I don’t know.”  
Gavin thought of his family, how he still loved them, after the threatened him like shit, how he liked Anderson in some kind of morbid way. He understood that grumpy old bastard. And yes, he liked Sam still. It was confusing, but he liked her for the person she was.  
This whole android developing feelings and personalities really was something.  
“Gavin?”  
“Huh?”  
“Can you elaborate?”  
“Not really … it’s just I want to hate people … things, for what they have done to me but I cant, because I still care.”  
“What have I done to you, especially after you first met me?”  
“Nothing”  
“Then why have you hated me?”  
“For fucks sake, Richard I don’t know. Because you thought you were better than humans? Because you are freaking invincible apparently? Because you didn’t have feelings that could cloud your decisions, yet you chose to go deviant and feel. I don’t fucking get it.”  
“But I am built to be better than humans. I am stronger, see better, I am able to process things faster … but.”, Richard looked at him, kind of lost.  
“I didn’t choose any of this. Just like you didn’t choose to be born that way that you are.  
Besides, when you saw the logo, that I had overlooked even though I am supposed to be perfect … not even I am infallible, Gavin.”  
Right he wasn’t but still.   
“Ugh, this is giving me a headache.”  
“Have you hydrated enough?”   
What.   
Richard took that as a no, got up and walked into the kitchen to get him some water, as he was back, he walked over to him, gently handing him the glass.  
“Thanks.”  
“You need to take care of yourself better.”  
He got a feeling, that his partner was implying more than he said.  
Instead of replying he took a sip, only then realising how thirsty he was, he emptied the glass and Richard reached out, to get him some more water.  
“I can get myself-“, with a stare he got shut up.  
Again, he walked out and returned about a minute later with a filled glass.   
“Thanks again.”  
“Drink.”  
“Dude.”  
“Drink.”, his tone not allowing any discussion.  
Gavin took a sip, hoping to satisfy the android, then he placed the glass on his bedside table, leaning back, his legs still crossed.  
Richard furrowed his brows at him, his LED whirling yellow.  
“What? Are you analysing me, Dick?”  
“No nicknames.”  
Gavin grinned, happy that the man in front of him caught on.  
“When’s the last time you ate?”  
“Uh.”  
In fact, he hasn’t eaten all day.  
“Stay. I am getting you food.”  
“I can take care of myself.”  
“Obviously you can.”  
“I didn’t die so f-“, oh.  
He pulled a face and Richard chuckled, walking to the bedroom door.  
Wanting to protest further, he opened his mouth, but the android turned around at the same moment.  
“Anything special you crave?”  
So, he had to close his mouth and reopen to answer.  
“Not really.”  
“Okay.”, with that he walked out and left him alone.  
He stared at the open door for a few minutes, trying to sort his thoughts, but failing miserably.   
Going over his possibilities of what to do next, he went with taking a hot shower. Untangling his legs, he got out of bed and walked into the bathroom.   
It was time to do his wash soon, so he as well could do it now. He considering procrastinating, but sighed, putting the clothes he had put on the floor into the washing machine undressing, and then putting those also in.  
Now naked, he pulled a fresh towel from the stash and then turned on the shower, putting the tab on hot.  
A few seconds later he stepped in and just stood there.  
The water flowed over his body, almost burning him, but this was okay, it also helped his muscles loosen a bit and showers always helped him thinking.  
He moved his shoulders, in an effort to loosen them even further.   
It was really time to get a break.  
Quickly Gavin showers and dried himself, before Richard came back, then he stepped out and wrapped the towel around his hip, so he could safely return to his room, in case the android returned.  
He probably shouldn’t be as self-conscious as he was acting right now, but he had other issues to think about right now. Just as he had put on fresh underwear and jeans, he heard a knock on his door.  
Barefooted he walked to open it and to let Richard in.  
This earned him a raised eyebrow, but that was it. He stepped aside, walking back to his room, to finish dressing himself.  
Once had put on a shirt he walked back out, Richard had already put the food on multiple plates. Who was supposed to eat all that?  
“I never won’t be able to eat all of that.”  
“That’s fine, I just rather got enough and get you properly fed.”  
Richard looked at him, genuinely smiling.  
“Do you want to eat in the living room?”  
Not knowing how to reply, he simply shrugged.  
The android carried multiple plates at once, carrying them to the small table that stood in front of the couch. Gavin had to admit, that the food smelled delicious. Kind of spicy, but his mouth started watering.   
“You know Gavin, you really need to do some grocery shopping.”  
“I don’t really have time to cook, so the food would spoil.”  
“But I could cook for you and wouldn’t have to go out.”  
“I wouldn’t want you to.”  
“I want to though, apparently I need to take care of you. We are partners after all.”  
Gavin sighed, walking to his couch. Slumping down on it, he looked at the food, while Richard brought even more plates over.  
“That looks crazy delicious, what kind of food is it?”  
“Indian. Curry, Kofta, Paneer, Daal .., I didn’t know what you’d like so I got a bit of everything.”  
“Whoa thanks.”  
He took the pita bread that was lying in front of him, cautiously tearing a piece off and putting into his mouth. It was incredible. Crisp and still warm.  
“As far as I know, you are supposed to dunk the pita.”  
Gavin nodded, dunking the bread in one plate that smelled like curry.  
For the next 20 minutes he tried everything.  
“This food is incredible. Thanks, Richard.”  
“I’m glad you like it.”, he said, just standing there.  
“Honestly, I wish you could eat this. You are missing out.”  
“I am able to eat, I just don’t taste the same way you do.”  
“You can?”  
“Yes.”  
Gavin couldn’t help and whispered to himself: “Damn, Sam was right, I really do know shit about them.”  
“What was she right with.”  
“Can you like not … eavesdrop?”  
“You have been talking out loud, literally.”  
“You know what I mean, plastic-man.”  
He was throwing a piece of pita at him, but he obviously he caught it. Grinning.  
In one quick motion, he put the piece in his mouth, now smirking at him from above.  
“Smooth bastard.”  
Then he continued eating, he was full already, but didn’t want to get the food to waste.  
“Gavin, I think we can safely put the food away for a few days, without it going bad.”  
He looked down, there was still plenty of Indian food left.  
“You are right. But I don’t wanna stop.”  
“Humans surely are weird.”  
“You are just mad because you are missing out.”  
“Maybe.”  
Then the android started to gather some of the plates, safely wrapping them and putting some of the food in containers.   
“I never knew you were also programmed to be a housewife.”  
Richard turned around, death stare on his face and Gavin almost chocked on the bite he was in the process of swallowing.  
“So-rry.”, he pounded himself on the chest.  
“Stop lying”  
“Never.”  
“Obviously.”, he came back, taking more plates.  
“Are you finished?”  
He simply nodded, his throat was still hurting a bit.  
Richard finished putting the food away and then just stood next to him in the living room, visibly uncertain of what to do next.  
“Thanks, Richard.”  
“It was nothing.”  
“No. For saving me.”  
“I already said-“  
“But it is a big deal to me, shithead.”  
“It’s my duty … and you are my friend.”  
“Still.”  
“It’s okay now, I hope I never have to do this again though.”  
Gavin had to laugh, somehow that remark was incredibly funny to him.  
“You know what, I am glad we are friends and I am glad that you are so fucking annoying at times.”  
Richard walked over to him, pulling him up and into a hug.  
At first he was really baffled so he stiffened up, but after a few seconds he was able to lean into the hug.


	12. Why don't we just kill another circuit of the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard was suprised that Gavin seemed to open up that quickly to him, but Gavin just had a lot to deal with and the android helped him (even if he didn't like to admit, of course)  
> another short and fluffy chapter - there will be more plot in the next one. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO, this really is a short chapter but I liked it. I promise there will be a proper plot in the next one and also progress on the case. :3c  
> I hope i can update you before I go on holiday though, because I won't be able to take my laptop with me. eek. I am trying my best!

He was surprised that Gavin actually leaned into the hug, but he pulled his hands closer around the human who didn’t protest.  
Both of them stood there for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s company. Richard constantly monitored Gavin’s vitals, and his heart rate dropped significantly over time.  
He visibly calmed down. It made him feel some sort of happiness, that he apparently hat that kind of effect on his partner.  
“You are warm”, he whispered at his chest. It was odd that he just noticed that now.  
This was so much at once, it was weird for Richard, to suddenly be so close, especially with Gavin – he never imagined him to be a touchy kind of person and he never imagined to be friends with him, even though he wished for it.  
Richard could feel a chuckle rise inside his chest.  
“What?”, Gavin asked quietly.  
“Nothing, I thought I knew you better. Apparently, I was wrong.”  
“That’s not a first”, Richard could hear the smile in the man’s voice. “but I think we both have to learn and get to know eachother better.”  
This made him properly happy, Gavin wanted to get to know him better. Even though he didn’t want to admit, he probably had to thank Sam too.  
Carefully he tried to put some space between them, giving Gavin his space back.  
But he protested, “Don’t.”  
“Are you okay?”, he started worrying, this behaviour was highly unusual.  
“No.”, he shifted, “but this is nice.”  
What was he supposed to do now?  
Continuing to stay like this, Richard closed his eyes and Gavin was right, this really felt nice. He felt accomplished, he really never thought he’d achieve a relationship that fast.  
Lost in thought – his thoughts cycled back and forth - he replayed the last few days and started drawing circles on the humans back, which earned him a shiver in response, but he seemed to like that.  
So he continued, when Gavin finally took a step back a few minutes had passed, his face was flushed.  
“Feeling better?”, he said, trying to discard the awkwardness.  
“Kind of.”  
Gavin rubbed his face, suddenly looking incredibly tired.  
“Maybe you should get some sleep.”  
“Mmm.”  
His phone pinged, and he flinched then walked into his room to get it, only to return seconds later, tapping a message.  
“Everything ok?”  
“Yeah, it’s just Sam, she’s asking if I am okay.”  
“Oh. She really seems nice.”  
“She is, you’d like her. She is as annoying as you.”, he looked up, grinning.  
“Thanks.”  
Then they just looked at each other, both of them not certain what to say.  
Richard didn’t want to bring up work, but it was the only thing he could think of right now.  
“By the way, I have scheduled a questioner with our murderer tomorrow. I hope that was okay.”  
“Yeah, yeah. I can’t wait to get this over with.”  
“Have you booked your holiday yet?”  
“No, I haven’t even talked to Fowler.”  
“He has to give you some time off.”  
“We are still talking about Fowler though.”  
“Don’t worry, if he doesn’t, I will make sure he does.”  
Gavin grinned again, “tempting, but not sure if it would be a smart move.”  
“I’ll just blame it on malfunctioning.”  
This sent Gavin into a laughing fit.  
“Savage piece of plastic, now I hope he is complaining.”  
“Maybe you will get your wish.”  
Walking into the kitchen, Gavin reached for his cups.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Getting coffee, duh.”  
“Just go to sleep.”  
“No, if I go now I will be awake at three a.m. and I am no up for that.”  
“Still, no coffee. You need to look out for your health more.”  
“It’s not like this will kill me.”  
“It might on the long shoot.”  
“Funny, that you are saying this, at least you won’t have to deal with me anymore.”  
Richard hated the cynical tone his voice displayed. How can someone hate himself that much, especially when he was so successful.  
“Don’t say that.”  
“I just did.”, he was about to push the button on the coffee machine, so Richard took a step forward, gently taking the humans hand. Careful not to hurt him.  
“No.”  
“I swear tin can.”  
“Well then, go ahead, I’m not letting you have coffee.”  
Gavin tried to kick him, but this just resulted in him almost falling. Groaning he gave up.  
“Can you let me go now, please, I won’t make coffee.”  
He rolled his eyes, but Richard just smiled.  
“You know what? You are right, I am going to bed.”  
“Good.”  
Gavin glared at him, pouted and then walked to the toilet, before returning to his room, slamming the door.  
Richard sighed, walking to the couch Gavin sat on minutes ago, initialising stasis mode.  
A few hours passed, when he got ripped out of his thoughts by Gavin quietly shuffling into the kitchen.  
“Gavin, are you okay?”, he whispered, hoping he wouldn’t startle the human.  
He was rubbing his eyes as he answered.  
“Told you, I’d wake up.”  
He walked over, while the man got himself a glass of water, managing to find his way in the dark quite well.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Don’t be. It’s not like I am not used to this anyway.”  
Richard tilted his head.  
“Insomnia.”  
“Oh. Is it bad?”  
“Sometimes, especially when I have something important happening the next day.”  
Slowly he placed the glass back on the counter.  
“Can I help?”  
“No. I will just have to sit this one out.”  
Studying his face, Richard felt a strange feeling inside him. He wanted to help the human so bad, wanted to comfort him. Even though he did not understand, he could see the struggle and the resignation that Gavin had to deal with.  
“Have you tried medication?”  
“Yes, I did, it just made me have worse nightmares, or I wouldn’t wake up the next morning.”  
“The human mind really is fragile, huh.”  
“Gosh, yes. Sometimes I just wish I could mute my mind.”  
“You need to get help, Gavin.”  
“Yeah, I do.”  
“Promise me you will, after your vacation?”  
“Maybe. You know what, I should just go and try to fall back asleep.”  
“Wait, I have an idea, let’s go for a walk.”  
“Now?! It is three in the morning, it is cold and what is it with you androids wanting to fucking walk all the time?”  
“I don’t know it just helps doing at least something, I suppose.”  
“Damn.”  
Richard walked to the door, waiting for Gavin to follow.  
“Wait, I need to put on something warmer first.”, he pointed to his pyjama bottoms.  
“Sure, I’ll wait.”  
A few moments later, he reappeared, in the jeans he had worn before and a t-shirt he topped with his typical leather jacket.  
Richard moved to open the door, it was a cool night and it was quiet. Even though it was late and dark outside, there was enough light that was emitted from the different buildings around them.  
Gavin caught up to him, he could feel how unsure the human was about this.  
“I am not planning on murdering you.”  
“I do hope so.”  
“Would have done it already.”  
“Thanks, that helps.”  
They stepped outside and immediately got hit by the cold air, he was glad that he couldn’t feel it. He looked down at Gavin, who seemed fine as well.  
For a while they walked in silence.  
“You were right, it helps”  
“You are w-“  
“I am so cold by now, I can’t focus on my mind.”, he let out a husky laugh.  
Oh. Swiftly he took his jacket and put it around Gavin’s shoulders, who surprised him once more, as he didn’t complain but looked up at him in wonder.   
They enjoyed the silence of the night, the busy city seemed so calm at this time of the day. It was somehow refreshing.  
Again, they continued to walk in silence, Richard always observing Gavin out of the corner of his eye.   
About 32.78 minutes had passed, when Gavin started to yawn.  
“Want to go back?”  
Another yawn. He turned on his heel, pulling Gavin lightly, who almost fell, if he hadn’t caught him.  
“Sorry.”  
“I am still human. I am fragile, android.”  
“I know. Won’t happen again.”  
He took a step, waiting for Gavin to fall back into pace with him, but he just stood there.  
“What is it.”  
“I know that sounds fucking cliché, but I wish we could just walk forever. I feel so content right now, and I haven’t felt this calm in ages I think.”  
“I will gladly do this again, if it helps you.”  
“Please.”, he looked down, seemingly ashamed.  
“I am glad you opened up to me, I think it really helps me with understanding you more – maybe not humans, but you.”, he smiled softly, even though the man couldn’t see.  
“It still freaks me out though.”  
“That’s okay.”  
“Besides I never know what you are thinking about me and …”  
“You can ask me.”  
“You still could lie to me – this is also one of the reasons why I don’t really have friends, before you ask.”  
“But I wouldn’t.”  
“So?”  
“so?”  
“What are you thinking?”  
“Again, I am happy that you are opening up to me, though I still wish to understand you better and I wish you would trust me more. I know this is all new to you, but it is for me as well.”  
“Hm.” 

Finally, Gavin took a step and then looked up to him. Vulnerability in his eyes.  
“I’m trying.”  
“I appreciate it, but don’t feel pressured, we have time – if you don’t get shot again.”  
He boxed the shorter on in the shoulder, who just rubbed it, playfully, pretending to be hurt and then he laughed. It was quiet, but genuine.   
Richard felt himself flooded with the warmth of happiness. Slowly he started to grow fond of the capability of feeling, at least he wouldn’t want to change anything about his deviancy now.  
Without thinking, he put his arm around Gavin’s shoulder, pulling him close and started to walk.  
If Gavin was startled, he didn’t show it and just quietly walked next to him, enjoying his company and quietly yawning from time to time.


	13. Justify / the ghosts of my past are very much alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were done with the case finally. But Gavin had to step way out of his comfort zone to get there, thankfully Richard had his back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy updateee.  
> I do hope that there are not too many mistakes in there, it is 4 a.m. right now and just wanted to finish this so if you find anything, let me know.  
> I am going to Amsterdam on Wednesday and then back to uni, so I hope I will be able to get out another chapter before then and update you after I am back.  
> I will try my best to update you asap (and I am kind of sorry for the boring case - I want to focus on their relationship more)  
> See you soon and thanks for sticking with my lazy ass <3

As Gavin woke up once again, he felt like he had been hit with a bus.   
He most definitely hadn’t gotten enough sleep, but there was nothing that could be done about it right now. Quickly he silenced his alarm and then went on to walk into the bathroom, where he brushed his teeth and splashed water into his face. Showering was overrated anyway.  
Glancing at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t oversee the bags under his eyes. They were worse than usual. Damn.  
Then he went on to walk into the kitchen, Richard already made him some coffee, so he simply slumped on one of the chairs, yawning.  
“Good morning, Gavin.”  
“Good morning, Richard.”  
“How are you feeling?”  
“Like I could fall asleep any minute, but I did sleep well after the walk … so thanks again, I guess.”  
“My pleasure.”  
Richard placed the cup in front of him. The hot steaming liquid felt like it gave him back some will to live.  
Carefully he took a sip, he couldn’t wait for the caffeine to hit.  
The android and him didn’t conversate again until it was time to get to the DPD, which Gavin was thankful for, he really was not in the mood for Smalltalk.  
While Gavin was about to turn the key in the engine, Richard spoke up again.  
“Do you want me to drive?”  
Instead of answering, Gavin got out again, waiting for Richard to switch, then he slid back into the passenger’s seat.  
“Good thinking.”, he yawned.  
“Wouldn’t want to die right now.”, Richard smiled.  
Then they fell to their comfortable silence again, Gavin close to dozing off.  
Together they walked in, Gavin walking straight to his desk, checking if there were any tasks that had to be done before the questioning.   
Sadly, there wasn’t anything to procrastinate on.  
“I’m getting her into the room.”, Richard said, already walking off.  
Before following Richard, he walked into the break room, to get another coffee. It was clear that this wouldn’t look all too professional, but he needed something to hold onto.  
Then he walked to the room Richard had already fixed the … things hands to the table and was staring down at her.  
A shiver ran down Gavin’s spine, he straightened his back and then opened the door.  
Richard nodded at him, reassuringly. He really appreciated his partner right now.  
He put his cup on the table, also staring down at the person in front of him, adjusting the folders with the evidence they found.  
“Why.”  
“Because I could.”  
“I am sure you had your reason.”  
“Of course, I had, what kind of shitty cop are you.”  
He had to keep a straight mind. Ignoring her comments, he perused her.  
“You killed countless people and androids, you better have a good fucking reason.”  
“Why would I tell you. As if it would matter right now anyway.”  
She was right, they had nothing she’d want, all Gavin knew that he wanted her jailed and rot in her cell.  
Suddenly she smirked.  
“You know, detective, you remind me of someone.”  
She squinted her eyes.  
“I do get that a lot. What is your name?”  
“I do not live by any human standards.”, her smile turned cold.  
“Obviously.”  
“You know who you remind me of, Kamski. It’s something in your face.”  
He stiffened, he couldn’t fight it. Shit.  
Gavin could feel Richards observing eyes in his back, of course he had caught it and he’d probably would ask questions about it later.  
“You are imagining things, madam.”, he answered, overly polite.  
“I sure do not. I don’t have these eyes for nothing.”  
Angrily Gavin slid the folder across the table, to her.  
“You are offended detective … maybe you do have something I want.”  
“What is it?”  
“Get Kamski to me. I want to talk to him about his precious androids”  
Slowly she slit her lips over her teeth, turning her expression into a menacing snarl.  
“No.”  
“No? You sure? I will give you a statement”  
Gavin weighted his opinions. Not liking the conclusion, he came to.  
“I will fucking jail you forever.”  
“Sure, go ahead, you know the conditions detective.”  
Her indifference drove him up a wall, he could feel Richard shift behind him, walking closer.  
Unintentionally he took a step back, searching the security of his friend behind him. He needed to keep his face, keep it professional.  
“Give me a moment.”  
“I won’t go anywhere.”, she rose her hands a little, the shackles holding her in position.  
He turned to Richard, “watch her.”  
The android nodded.  
Then he walked out and out of the office. He needed to be on his own for this.  
As soon as he was outside, taking his phone out of the pocket.   
Blindly scrolling he searched the contact he needed and before he could even panic he called.  
“How surprising.”, Kamski answered.  
“Shut up, we need you here.”  
“What do I have to do with your cases, Gav.”  
Already done with this day Gavin just groaned, “please.”  
“You owe me.”  
“Yeah, yeah.”  
“See you in 20.”  
Before he walked in, he smoked, fully aware that this was his first cigarette of the day.   
After he was done, he walked back up, walking up to the one-way mirror.  
Richards head slightly turned, acknowledging his presence, he waved his arm slightly.  
Gavin knew that would be enough, getting across what he meant.  
Slowly the android turned, walking out the door and then standing next to him.  
“Kamski will be here in about 15 minutes. And I know you have questions. Later.”  
Both of them were staring straight trough the mirror, but he wasn’t focused at all on the person that sat inside the room. His eyes just kept focusing in and out, like a lens on a digital camera.  
“It will be okay.”  
“I sure fucking hope so.”  
“And you were right, I do have questions.”  
“I fucking know you, plastic prick.”, Gavin weakly smiled.  
Richard lightly placed a hand on his back and he looked up to him.  
“I am so fucking tired.”  
“I can imagine.”  
“You do?”  
“Kind off, I guess.”  
“Elaborate.  
“Later.”  
“I will make sure of that. Be right back.”  
Gavin could feel the anxiety rise at the bottom of his stomach, he hated that feeling so much. He hated losing the grip on his emotions.  
He basically ran into the bathroom, quickly locking himself in one of the stalls.  
In. Out. In. Out. Breathe. Fucking breathe.  
“Keep your stance”, he told himself.  
Before he knew it, someone came in and knocked on his door.  
“Kamski is here. Wants to see you.”  
Taking one last deep breathe, he unlocked the door, looking at the android in front of him.  
“You can do it, I am here.”  
“I just had flashbacks”, he tried to explain.  
“It’s okay”  
Richard let him walk out first, always having his back.  
Kamski immediately beamed at him.  
“Brother! Haven’t seen you in ages.”  
“Half.”  
The smile subsided a bit.  
“Stop breaking my heart like that, brother.”  
“Half.”  
Kamski sighed.  
“What do you need me for?”  
Quickly they filled him in and Gavin was telling him all the details, he wanted to get him involved.  
He knew he cared a lot about his androids, even though he still couldn’t fully understand.  
“And she wants to talk to me … why?”  
He had no idea.  
“If I may interject.”, Richard stated from behind, walking up standing next to him.  
This was the first time Kamski fully shifted his attention to Richard and Gavin hated the look in his eyes.  
If he would touch him, he’d probably break his arm.  
“I think that … person really has a perverted thing for androids.”  
“So that’s what you think I am, huh?”, Kamski played it off, but Gavin knew him well enough, that he knew this struck a chord. Richard probably noticed it too.  
“That was not my intention, Mr Kamski.”, polite Richard sure the hell freaked him out.  
“ … but it was you who founded cyberlife. You are probably a very … important person to her.”  
This made his half-brother smirk.  
“Mmm I like you android.”  
“Shall we get you in there, Elijah.”  
It was more of a demand than a question.  
“Always so demanding, you should be happy I am here.”  
Tempted to answer something offensive, he opened the door to the interrogation room, waiting for Elijah to walk in and then he and Richard followed.  
“Mr Kamski.”  
Immediately Gavin could see how uncomfortable he felt.   
“You wanted to see me?”  
“I have some questions.”  
“I get that a lot.”  
“Why did you disassemble my androids?”  
“I needed their parts.”  
“For?”  
Again, she raised her hands.   
“I wanted to be as perfect as your androids, strong, invincible.”  
“You could have just gotten implants.”, Gavin intervened.  
“Sure, because I tried talking to doctors, they just told me to get help … so I had to figure it out myself.”  
“That’s what you needed Dr. Adler for”, this time Richard was the one asking.  
“Yeah, but that bitch was obviously no help. I tried to contact her back in Austria and she did give me some answers I needed but pulled out when I actually needed her.”  
Gavin made a disgusted sound and Elijah was looking at him.  
“You can leave if you want, El.”  
“You owe me.”, he said, smiled and left.  
This is what sent the monster in front of them off.   
“I WASN’T ABLE TO ASK MY QUESTIONS”  
“Karma”, Gavin hissed.  
Richard walked forward, towering over her, while she tried to get rid the shackles.  
“There is no use. I’d advise you to stop.”   
She spat at him.  
Gavin made a sidestep, ready to snap, his partner turned his head, slowly, robotic.  
“Stay.”  
“If I get out of here I will kill you.”  
“You won’t I will make sure of that.”  
The woman tried to pull the table up with her, but Richard was faster. He placed two fingers close to her neck and suddenly she went limb.  
“The fuck did you do?”, Gavin just stood there, mouth ajar and also scared.  
“She is just unconscious. Go report to Fowler. I will put her in the cell.”  
But he couldn’t move. This was so bizarre.  
“Gavin.”, Richards voice suddenly soft.  
“Right” he whispered.  
Quickly he walked out and walked to Fowlers office. He could hear Richard carrying the unconscious body behind him, but it was nothing he wanted to see right now.  
He only Gave Fowler the bare minimum of information, he’d have the report if he wanted more information. Sometime in the conversation, Richard walked in.  
Standing there like a fucking tree, his arms crossed behind his back, radiating a lot of … bossiness somehow.  
“Did you ask?”, he looked down at him.  
“Hm … Oh. I want a week off.”  
“No, I can’t let you go. There is a lot of fucking work that has to be done.”  
“In all due respect, Fowler. Gavin deserves some time off. If you need someone to do some work, I will gladly do it on my own.”  
The dismay was clearly visible in his face.  
“Fucking hell, you all are driving me insane. First Anderson and Connor and now you two … fine, take a week off, but you will work twice as fast when you are back. Richard you also get a week off. I don’t want to see your fucking face right now.”  
The android bowed a little, looking at Gavin from above.  
“Let’s finish the paper work, Gavin.”  
Gavin simply turned, walking to his desk staring at the screen in front of him.  
Richard returned a few minutes after, a fresh cup of coffee in hand.  
“What the fuck just happened tin can?”  
“You got a week off and we finished this case.”  
“This feels so wrong.”  
“I know. Let’s finish this, so you can rest.”, he said, handing him the cup.  
Once again the android was right, he was fucking exhausted.  
He really tried to focus, but in the end Richard was the one who did all the work.  
His phone pinged, he took it out, seeing a text from Elijah, reminding him, that he owed him big time.  
Suddenly Richard was at his side.  
“Gavin I am done with the paper work … want to leave?”  
“Fuck yes.”  
He got up, quickly taking his stuff, searching for his car keys.  
“I still have them.”  
“Good.”, with that he walked out, ready to get home and just shut off wor


	14. Happines hit him like a bullet in the back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it. It is once again 3 am but i did it. I also typed 3/4 of this chapter on my phone because i culdnt help myself. (Yes, actually)  
> I just wanted to remind you all that there probably wont be an update until Tuesday. Sorryyy~

Gavin entered the door, walked into his living room and fell to the floor. Or rather he let himself fall onto the rug.  
Richard just looked at him, surprised by Gavin’s reaction. He contemplated asking him, if he wanted to go to bed, but decided against it.  
“Do you want coffee?”  
“No, thanks”, his muffled voice came from the floor  
Accessing him, he just stood there for a long time, waiting for some movement or comment on what he planed on doing, but it never came.  
The human was just lying there, face to the floor and not thinking probably.  
Walking closer, he was now standing next to him.  
“Are you okay?”  
“Really.”  
“Sorry.”  
Right, he probably was not, otherwise he would have acted different.  
Kneeling next to him, he sat down and crossed his legs, still Gavin didn’t move.  
This really was some weird behaviour, but his system told him that the human was okay, physically wise. His blood sugars were a bit low, but that was normal for him, who basically only had coffee and cigarettes all day.  
Carefully he placed a hand on his back and Gavin sucked in a breath, before his rhythm started normalising again.  
Richard didn’t know where the urge to touch his partner came from, all he knew was, he liked how he reacted to it. It was raw emotion and not as collected how he usually acted, especially when they were alone.  
Slowly he started drawing circles on his back, keeping a constant pace.  
This was, when Gavin turned his face to the side, so he was able to speak.  
“Fuck that feels nice.”  
Richard simply smiled and continued drawing the circles.  
“I am sorry, Richard.”  
“What for?”  
He went trough the last few hours of the day, there was nothing the human had to excuse himself for. It was odd that he felt the need to do so.  
“I am such a mess and I am sorry that you have to deal with that.”  
Oh.  
He gave his voice the softest voice he was able to do, “Gavin … I like you and I don’t care that ‘you are such a mess’. We are friends and I am glad we are.”  
Gavin rolled on his side, taking an almost foetus like position.  
The expression on his face was new to Richard, vulnerable, yet thankful and also happiness?   
“What did I do to deserve you, Richard?”  
Again, he just smiled.  
“I won’t go anywhere until you are so annoyed at me that you want to throw me out of the window.”  
Gavin let out a chocked laugh before fully falling into a laughing fit, by the end he was laughing so hard, tears came out of his eyes.  
“Sorry, I just imagined throwing you out of the window and it is the funniest shit ever.”  
“Thank you very much, Reed.”, he answered, Giving his tone a bit of fake offence.  
“I am glad you are here.”  
“Again, so am I”  
Gavin rolled on his back, pulling up his legs turning his face to him.  
“You know, sometimes I just feel so fucking cliché. Like a fucking mess. Sometimes I wish I was just a shallow person, no problems no feelings, just having my shit together.”  
“I can’t imagine this … I like having feelings.”  
“They are all fun and games until you feel like tearing out your heart, because you can’t deal with the pain inside your chest anymore. Or when you are so angry at yourself, that you just want to hurt you because, you don’t know how to deal with the hate anymore.”, he laughed, but it was cold and sad.  
“Told you, I am a mess.”  
He looked at the man in front of him, not sure of what to say, he couldn’t imagine how that felt, but he noticed the pain in Gavin’s voice. It was masked by apathy.   
“I don’t care, friends, remember.”, it was true, all he cared about that his partner war save and happy.  
Considering if it was the right moment, to ask about Kamski he scooted closer to the human.  
“Can I-“  
“He is my half-brother yes, we haven’t had the best relationship growing up, but he is the only family I have left. And yes, he is another reason why I disliked … detested androids. After all he is the devil who invented you.”  
“Well, you should thank him then.”  
“Wow, plastic prick, wow.”  
Richard grinned, and Gavin grinned back.  
“I owe him big time now anyway and he is going to make me pay and it wasn’t even worth it.”  
“But we solved the case with his help.”  
“It just doesn’t feel done to me, I thought this was gonna be something big, but it was just a maniac. And there is no real end to it. I feel bad for Adler and all the other families that are missing their loved ones.”  
“Gavin, there is nothing you could do about it, one way or another. You should just enjoy your break and once you are back we will start fighting for justice.”  
“You sound like we are Superman and Robin, for fucks sake.”  
“Am I Robin or Superman?”, he teased.  
This earned him an eye roll and he punched Gavin in the side.  
“What are you going to do?”, Gavin asked after a few moments of silence.  
Richard wasn’t sure yet, he probably would meet up with Connor and maybe he would be able to research a bit more on human psychology or find a new hobby. He simply shrugged in response.  
“Boring.”  
“Maybe. But I am not used having nothing to do, that’s not what I was designed for, so I will have to figure it out.”  
“I wasn’t designed to be alive either, yet here we are.”  
“Gavin!”, he exclaimed scandalised.  
“Sorry, self-deprecating humour is my way to deal with things.”  
“I know.”  
“Do you want to join me?”  
This took him by surprise, that was something he never thought Gavin would ask him. Would he like to join him? Was this a good idea? He ran all the possible outcomes.  
“Hey, I can see your LED, stop overthinking and come with me.”  
“You sure?”  
“Damn, yes I am, I wouldn’t have asked otherwise, would I?”  
“True”  
Absentmindedly he touched his LED, still not certain of what he wanted. It would be the best opportunity to get to know his partner, but at the same tine he wouldn’t want to spoil the fun for him. He also couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Gavin would even want him there. Every fibre in his system told him that this was not a possibility.  
Hauling himself up Gavin crossed his legs, mimicking Richards position. Their knees almost touched.  
“What is it?”  
“I wouldn’t want to-“  
“Oh shut up. Please don’t make me beg and join me. It all will be in good fun.”  
He had no choice, so he simply smiled to let him know he would come with me.  
Gavin instantly beamed at him, he really was happy about that. Richard moved one hand trough his hair, something he seemingly had adapted from the man.   
“Hey, if you annoy me I still can throw you off the plane.”  
“That wouldn-“  
”I am joking, tin can.”  
“ I am sorry, my system just cant seem to decipher why you are so happy about that.”  
Suddenly surprisingly shy Gavin rubbed his knee, Richard could see blood rise up his neck. This embarrassed him a lot.  
“ I don’t know plastic, it … we have spent so much time together the past few days, it would be weird if you weren’t here now. I’d even dare to say I am used to you by now.”  
The android raised an eyebrow, somehow Gavin was still a mystery to him. However he didn’t like that he didn’t feel comfortable about his emotions.  
He appreciated his openness so much.  
In an attempt to distract him he went for teasing.  
“Sam wouldn’t be happy to hear that.”, he grinned, but Gavin’s reaction took him aback a bit. He seemed like he had been hit and Richard felt something drop inside him.  
Now frowning he looked him into the face and he knew that Gavin had caught onto something. Quickly he pushed the thought aside. None of this was his business.  
He couldn’t help himself though.  
“ Do you want to pursue things with her?”  
“What? No … I don’t think so”   
“Because she is an android?”   
What was going on with him? He should be happy that Gavin had taken a step towards him, but yet here he was suddenly feeling hot inside.  
“The fuck are you talking about?”  
Richard dropped his gaze, no longer able to look into the human’s eyes.  
“Richard … are you jealous?!”  
Was he? He looked up the meaning and came to the conclusion that he was. Still looking down he answered.  
“I think so, yes”  
“Well there is no need to”  
“But you seemed so comfortable with each other and …”, he trailed off, which was not like him at all.  
“We are closer. You basically know my damn life story and are still here. I’d be damned if I didn’t appreciate that.”  
But were they really? Richard could feel Gavin’s attraction to the other android, whenever he mentioned her. She made him happy. He wanted to make him happy.  
Suddenly he felt a finger on his chin, Gavin was lightly brushing at his skin. This startled him so much, he had to look up.  
Gavin now was inches away from him, slightly lumped forward so he was able to touch him.  
Almost involuntarily Richard inched closer, so his partner would have easier access to his face. Carefully Gavin but his hand on his cheek, an incredible fondness in his Gaze that gave the android a near sensory overload.  
Quietly he whispered, “hey, I am the one who is allowed to get overwhelmed by everything. Besides I hate seeing you like this, so stop it.”  
“I just-“  
“Sh. It’s okay, I get it”   
Gavin brushed his thumb over his bottom lip. His system blared in his mind. He tried to push the notifications away, but they just kept stacking up. How was Gavin able to make him feel all that. In one last attempt he shut his eyes, fighting his own instincts. Richard could feel his LED blaring. He knew it was red. He knew it gave him away.  
“Richard ...”, Gavin whispered, his voice not more than a hush. His thumb was now still on his lip.  
“... what is it? Tell me”  
All he wanted to do was get up and go away. This was definitely not how his system calculated things would turn out.  
No longer able to fight his system, he gave in. Immediately he could feel his skin pull from where Gavin touched his.  
He could hear how Gavin sucked in a sharp breath, but much to his astonishment he placed the other hand on his face too, now cupping it.  
Instantly his face started to reveal his underneath there too, but the human didn’t stop.  
To Richard’s dismay he let go of his one side again, but only to take his hand.  
There too the skin pulled away and he opened his eyes so he could see Gavin’s reaction. He expected to find disgust, but there was none. He simply seemed interested.  
“Richard ...?”, he asked, lifting his eyes so he’d directly look at him. It was hard to not avert his gaze.  
His system was still blaring, he was dying to shut it off.  
Questioningly his vis-à-vis tilted his head. He was expecting an answer.  
Resenting Richard gave in, hoping not to destroy everything they had developed.  
“You make me feel things, Gavin.”


	15. Feels so good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff for the soul and Richard being fucking precious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SO SO SORRY it took me so long to update.   
> My life is a confusing mess right now and I also got my school schedule and ... let's just say I got a 37-42 hour week (excluding study time and preperations and breaks)   
> I will probably die.  
> Also this chapter is kind of trash but I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer D:  
> Cute and probably sexy travel stuff coming up soon. Promise!  
> and of course thanks for the comments, kudos and encouragement. I appreciate that a lot <3

Gavin’s mind raced, trying to understand what Richard just told him.  
His hand was still on his face, not being able to take it off. The reaction this had earned him, was way to fascinating. The fact, that the androids body reacted to his touch made him proud.  
The look in Richards eyes was as captivating as his reaction, there was so much emotion in it, which Gavin didn’t fathom either. How was an android able to show so much feeling?   
He knew, that he probably was able to display and feel some sort of emotion, but this was odd, this was new and raw and he had a feeling that they shared that feeling.  
Carefully Gavin tried to pull away, leaving Richard some space and to get his own thoughts together, but the android protested.  
“No … please.”  
“Richard, I am not going anywhere. I … just don’t understand.”   
“Neither do I”  
“It’s okay, Richard.”  
“I am still sorry I put you trough this.”  
This hit Gavin; mental pictures of himself, as he tried to supress emotion back with his family, pretending that he didn’t care. In his relationships when he felt people slip away, because he was such a mess flashed up in his mind.   
He only realised that he had held his breath, when he spoke again.  
“Don’t ever feel sorry for any kind of emotion, besides I am still the mess between the both of us”  
Reassuringly he smiled at the man in front of him. His heart skipped a beat, when he finally grasped how much he cared. It had only been a couple of days and it already felt like they had shared a lifetime together. Which was incredibly cliché and he’d never admit aloud but that’s what he felt and was sure of. Once again, he tried to pull back, but this time Richard didn’t protest. Even though it almost physically pained him, he slowly moved back while still having his legs crossed. It felt wrong, but he felt that if he changed his position any further he would fall apart. Richards skin still revealed his android casing underneath, where Gavin had touched him.   
“What’s-“he wanted to ask but the android already knew. Knew him too well.  
Suddenly Richard seemed even more uncomfortable, his LED flickered back to a solid yellow.   
“This is how androids connect … it’s something rather intimidate. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way.”, he tried to explain.  
A stupid thought popped into Gavin’s head, quickly he tried to push it back, not wanting to analyze what “intimidate” meant in that context.  
“The fuck you are talking about, Richard.”  
“I just … I know you still are overwhelmed by androids. I appreciate you trying though.”  
“Okay shithead, stop worrying about me for a second.”  
“It is my duty.”  
Not when we are in private”  
Richard wanted to argue again, with a shushing sound Gavin made him close his mouth.  
“Okay so I don’t give a fuck about you being an android … not anymore. Yes, you might be right, and this still overwhelms me, but this is also my own fucking problem I’ll have to deal with.”   
Gavin sighed, and Richard finally met his gaze properly again. Something in his expression made him feel like someone punched him in the stomach.  
“As a matter of fact, you look and feel pretty darn human to me right now.”  
Richards face lit up.  
“Thank you.”   
“There is no need to, I meant it.”, now he was smiling too, Richards happy face way too contagious.  
“So you care about me.”, it was more of a statement than a question.  
“Obviously I do, tin can.”  
“Can I ask you something else?”   
He fought the urge to tell him that he just basically did and simply nodded.  
“Do you think Sam is attractive?”  
His jaw dropped. He definitely did not expect this – why and how was Richard still thinking about Sam. Yes, he liked her, but still. This seemed too far fetched even from the investigative android.  
“Yes, I do think so.” he said, which was the truth.  
“Do you – do you think I am”, the stuttering was strange for Richard, but Gavin couldn’t help but laugh. This situation right now was so ridiculous. All of this was too much, the mood swing they just went through made him feel dizzy.   
But Richard seemed hurt. When he calmed down again he furrowed his brows.  
“Hey, don’t give me that look”  
The androids LED flashed from yellow to red.  
“Damn Richard, of course you are attractive, you are fucking Adonis. I mean look at you”, he wildly gesticulated with his hands, trying to emphasize his words.  
“All of you are freaking perfect.”  
“We certainly are not. If we were rA9…”  
“You know what I mean, you are imperfectly perfect. Every fucking freckle is planned.”  
Gavin glanced at his face, deliberately looking for spots on it.  
Once more, Richard inched closer, but this time it was him, touching Gavin. With a feather-like touch he traced the scar on Gavin’s nose. His LED was back to yellow, calculating. Analyzing.  
“Do you wish you could get your face back to what it used to be?”  
For a minute he thought about it. Back when he got the scar, he wished he could rip his face off, he thought it made him look ugly. Not attractive enough and he felt disfigured. But over time he has grown to like his scar. It was part of him now, and it is a good pick up. Females seemed to like battle scars.  
As he replied, a smile was playing on his lips.  
“No, I don’t, I used to, but it is my fucked-up face – fitting to my lifestyle.”  
“How did you attain it?”  
“I don’t really want to go into that right now…” , he didn’t feel like opening another drawer of his past.  
Richard moved even closer, their knees now were touching.  
A laugh rose up Gavin’s throat. It was unfiltered and raw and genuine.  
“You fucker, I swear.”  
Finally, Richard smiled again, and his LED was back to his normal calm blue.  
“Thanks for talking with me, Gavin.”  
“I am gonna be real with you, I am not used to talking, actually I hate talking … but I am glad too. Thanks for putting up with me.”  
Richard’s hand was still on the bridge of his nose, tracing his scar. It was nice being touched.  
Slowly he tilted his head up, making the hand slide off and the android pulled his hand back.  
“Sorry.”  
Gavin sighed, somehow getting frustrated all of a sudden. Hating that they were tiptoeing around each other. At the same time everything was going so fast. Reminding himself again, that he should professional help  
He tried to get up; struggling with getting his feet out of their position. While Richard got up with out a problem, smiling down at him. Once again, he tried to get up, carefully stretching his legs first, but Richard was faster. He took his hand pulling him up, which made him almost trip over his feet. And again, the android was faster, holding him steady and then pulling him close.  
“You did that on purpose.” Gavin exclaimed, lightly offended.  
“Maybe”, he could hear the grin.  
“Fucking Bastard”  
Sweetly smiling at him, Richard looked down at him and Gavin could feel his heart pick up it’s pace. For fucks sake, he was into deep.  
“I’m hungry.”, he said, to get out of the awkward situation and because he didn’t know how to deal with this situation.  
Richard, the gentle man he was offered to get him food immediately.  
“I think I’d like to go out.”  
“Is that a date Gavin?”, he could hear the smirk in his voice, but couldn’t respond, because he chocked on his own breath, as soon as Richard said that.  
“Where the fuck did you learn to talk like that, tin can.”  
“I was programmed-“  
“Don’t fuck with me like that.”  
Playfully he shoved him away, this resulted in Richard laughing.   
“You know what, I’ll just eat the leftovers.”, he said, fake pouting.  
Carefully he pulled away, so he could walk to the fridge and get the food. His heart was still pounding above average and he was glad that he could turn his back on the android for a few seconds.  
He took the food out of the fridge, placing it on the counter to heat it up one by one. He tried hard to focus on the process.  
“Do you need help with that?”  
“I think I can manage.”, he answered, hoping that he didn’t curse himself with saying that and spilling everything. Luckily, he did manage, and he placed the now heated dishes on the counter and sat himself down. All that while being watched by his partner, who was still standing where he had left him.  
“By the way Gavin, have you booked a flight and hotel yet?”  
Taking one of the plates and a fork, he turned so he could see Richard better.  
“Of course, I haven’t …”  
“Let me do it then.”  
Before he could protest, Richard had apparently booked their flights and rooms.  
“Thanks, I guess”, Gavin shoved a bite in his mouth.  
Richard beamed at him, “I am so excited already.”  
His heart skipped a beat, he could feel it.   
“Me too.”


	16. something good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a lot of fluff - i really have no idea what to tell you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SO SO SO SORRY that it took me this long to update you guys, life has proven to be (1) fucking mess right now again, there is so much stuff I have to do.   
> which means there is not much freetime left, and if I do I usually am to tired to focus :I BUT I want to finish this.  
> Hope this chapter also makes up for the lack of postings. > if you want to check out [ my other work](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15965489/chapters/37237607), please do! (bc I fucking couldn't contain myself and I don't struggle with timemanagement enough yet)  
> Oh and keep in mind that if my writing style has changed a lot to the past chapter, it is because I finally got more comfortable with it again.   
> anyway. enjoy. <3

“I could only get a flight for the day after tomorrow though”, Richard said, a slight frown dampening his excitement from before. Gavin couldn’t help but chuckle.  
“We’ll have enough time anyway and I can do some planning in the meantime”, he shrugged.  
The android still didn’t seem very happy.  
Reed got up and walked over, lightly brushing his fingers over Richards left arm, this was all the affection he could muster right now. He felt the anxiety bubble in his stomach - no, butterflies, he thought, kind of astonished of himself. It probably was clear as ice by now, that he had feelings for his partner – even to himself, but that he was able to admit that to himself this easily was new.  
Smiling at himself, he looked at the other man’s face.  
“I really do appreciate the effort though, Rich.”  
“I just wish-“  
“Shut up, it is my fault, I could have booked weeks ago, just in case, but I didn’t and honestly, I am glad, because now you are coming with me.”  
He pulled one corner of his mouth up, now smirking.  
“We can go there again, if we like it, or somewhere else, I don’t care.”, Gavin knew full well, what his words implied, and he couldn’t care less right now. He also knew, that Richard probably had picked up on it and he got the answer when the android suddenly looked a bit flustered. It probably was confusing to him¸ how Gavin was acting so offensively all of a sudden, but.  
The LED on Richards temple whirled yellow, trying to comprehend what just had shifted between them. Gavin could understand, the feeling was mutual, but honestly he was just tired by now. This week had been terrible, he was exhausted, so much had occurred and he made two new friends – this hasn’t happened since … forever basically.  
But at the same time this has him left feeling vulnerable, friendships always meant trusting and he wasn’t used to that.  
Suddenly Richards finger was on his forehead, carefully massaging his knitted brows back to where they belonged.  
“What are you thinking about?”  
“Everything”  
“You shouldn’t do that.”  
“Wow thanks, I am suddenly cured”, he just couldn’t help but reply with sarcasm. This was ridiculous, Gavin couldn’t change the way he felt or thought. Especially not after that short amount of time. He was positive he would be able to change … he just needed some more time.  
Instinctually he wanted to take a step back, like always, when he got uncomfortable, but apparently Richard thought differently. He just walked a step forward, his hand still on the human’s face and his LED still jumping from blue to yellow.  
“That’s not what I meant.”  
Gavin still wasn’t fully convinced, “hmmm sure.”  
Richard stepped even closer, barely leaving any space between them and once again the mood around them changed. Now Richard was the one pushing forward. As soon as Gavin realized that his heart began to speed up and he cursed himself.  
He felt like a schoolboy in the bloom of his puberty and he was willing his body very hard to not start flushing, he wasn’t ready to blow up his cover entirely yet.  
In another attempt to get more space between them, he stepped back again, two steps this time, but he felt the counter in his back. He was cornered.  
Of course, Richard stepped closer once more.  
“Stop.”  
He was so confused.  
“Gavin, stop thinking.”  
If it only was that easy, he thought.  
“If it only was that easy”, he said.  
“I know.”, Richard replied, sliding his hand down his cheek, slowly drawing patterns with his thumb.  
“hmm.”, was all he could whisper, suddenly too caught in the touch of the android.   
“You should get to bed, Gavin.”  
Still not able to reply, he closed his eyes and nodded, but made no effort to actually move his legs, he was afraid, that if he actually moved, the spell would be broken and right now he just enjoyed this too much and … if he was completely honest he was scared of what would happen next. He feared, that things would get awkward.  
“Gavin?”, Richard asked, obviously confused by his reaction.  
But he just shifted slightly, pushing his head harder into his hand, luckily Richard seemed to understand as he put his forehead on Gavin’s.  
For a few seconds he forgot to breathe, suddenly overwhelmed by that much proximity, but as soon as he got used to it, it was the most comforting feeling he had felt in a while – or ever.  
They stood like this for a few minutes none of the men daring to move.  
But then Richard took over by carefully pulling Gavin towards him.  
“Either you are going to bed … or I am carrying you. I don’t care.”  
It took Gavin a moment to gain back his focus on the real world.  
“I’m … going.”, he managed, still oddly dizzy feeling.  
Then he pulled back, opened his eyes and looked up into Richards face, a soft smile was displayed on his face, he seemed content. Good.   
Slowly Gavin walked to the bathroom as his partner started clearing the kitchen, he contemplated whether or not he should complain and tell him that he could do it by himself, but it was probably no use anyway. He just made a mental note to tease him with how domestic he had become.  
Grinning to himself, he got ready for bed.  
After he was done, he walked out only to see Richard sitting cross-legged on the carped, looking up at him.  
“Is your programming broken, or why are you sitting on the floor while there is a perfectly good couch next to you?”  
“I find it rather comfortable here.”, he replied, looking kind of absent-minded. The LED told him he was right. It spun in a constant yellow and he couldn’t help and wonder what the android was thinking about.  
“What are you thinking about.”  
No reply. Gavin walked closer and was now standing in front of Richard.  
“Remember when you said you’d tell me what you think?”, he hushed in a low voice, still waiting for a reply, but Richard didn’t make a move. If he didn’t know better, he’d have assumed Richard’s programming got stuck, but that was impossible. Or at least he thought so.  
Kneeling down to be closer to the other man, he looked him into the eyes, which were oddly unfocused. Careful not to startle the android, he touched his cheek.  
After a few seconds he finally got a reaction, as Richard finally seemed to be able to focus.  
“Sorry.”, he whispered, his voice weirdly artificial sounding.  
Gavin felt the anxiety creep up his spine, this was so off, this wasn’t the android’s usual behaviour.  
“What is it? Tell me.”  
Now it was him who drew circles on the other’s cheeks. Again, his underneath’s were revealed, and Reed felt the butterflies pick up their pace again, he never thought he would get any real reaction out of his partner, yet here they were.  
“Everything is so confusing and overwhelming. Emotions just are-“  
“I get it, I get it, me too.”, now he was smiling again, even though it was more in an attempt to calm his nerves, it seemed to help his vis á vis too, as his LED finally turned to the calm blue Gavin had gotten used to by now.   
“It is so hard to comprehend, Gavin, it is so frustrating, I know my programming wasn’t coded for emotions, but I just-“  
He wished he could reassure his partner, and tell him that everything would be okay, but he had felt that way all his life. This feeling of actually not knowing what he felt was all too similar. He sighed and took Richards hands, signing him to get up. He followed and now was towering over him again, but now he didn’t seem as endearing anymore – he seemed lost. This hurt Gavin more than it should have. Slowly he pulled the other one closer, wrapping his hands around him, allowing him into a hug. At first Richard didn’t react and Gavin waited for protest – but it never came as he was pulled close once again this evening.   
It was insane how much he had missed being touched, held and just – comforted. Usually he thought he was good with the little contact he had, but right now he realized he had been lying to himself the whole time. Probably to save himself from the realisation what a fuck-up he was.  
“There is no need to hurry, Richard, you will understand eventually.”, he really hoped he would.  
“But what if –“, he trailed off and Gavin was surprised there was so much worry in his voice.  
Suddenly Richard pulled him closer, firmly holding his back, so he wouldn’t be able to move. Not that he wanted to right now, it was just surprising.  
“What?”, he asked into the fabric of his shirt.  
“What if you leave … I am a machine after all.”  
Now it was the android who had gone insane, he thought.   
“We are partners, man. I am not going to unless you request someone else. I am here to stay.”  
He couldn’t help his heart was picking up on speed after his almost-confession. He really wasn’t going to, he hadn’t thought about it since the third day or so of knowing his partner, actually.  
The human could feel the artificial body stiffen.  
“What is it? Talk to me.”  
“That’s not what I meant.”  
“Then what did you – and be clear.”   
It was not like Gavin hasn’t had an idea by now, he just didn’t dare to phrase it, not even inside his own head.  
It took a few seconds until he finally got an answer, “I-I don’t want to lose you this way. The thought of not being allowed to touch you scares me. I know we have known eachother for the most possible short amount of time in human means … but I don’t want to lose this. I don’t want to lose you.”  
Richard hummed, probably to calm himself or whatever, Gavin was to occupied trying to process everything that had happened. The android cared – about him.   
“I know this is pathetic”, his partner then continued, “but this is what I am feeling.”  
A smile crept up on Gavin’s face and he looked up, which earned him the visuals of a concerned Richard. If that bastard only knew.  
Considering for a moment, he decided that he could take the chance by now, there really wasn’t much left to lose, besides maybe their whole relationship, but he tried to silence the anxiety in the back of his mind. Not now.  
Their feelings were mutual. Their feelings were mutual. Richard felt emotions – for him.  
Slowly he pulled out of the embrace, constantly locking eyes with the android, trying to convey everything he felt, but after a few seconds it was clear that he needed their closeness.  
He took the collar of his jacket, pulling him closer to himself, now mere inches away from eachother.  
Placing a hand on the other’s face he couldn’t help but smile.  
“Don’t move.”, he ordered, and Richard happily obliged. Now that Gavin had both hands for use, he cupped the bigger one’s face, closely watching for any kind of reaction. Luckily, he seemed to enjoy it as much, because after a few seconds he closed his eyes, fully focusing on his touch.  
This made Gavin happy, but it wasn’t enough, he brought his face close to the android’s carefully tracing his features with his lips and lightly pressing kisses onto the artificial skin.  
Richard hummed contently as the human continued and he couldn’t help but smile, which made Gavin kiss the corners of his mouth.  
“Gavin?”  
“Mmmm?”  
“May I properly kiss you?”  
Instead of an answer Gavin placed his lip’s on Richards, waiting a few seconds before pushing his tongue between his counterpart’s - willing his mouth open and fully embracing in the kiss.


	17. authors note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i am sorry ggubzhbsih io

i know, y'all are probably waiting for an update but I just can't get myself to do it. I HAVEN'T ABANDONED THIS PIECE OF TRASH I really just don't have time :c  
school hit me with full force and so did real life and my emotions, and I gotta deal with that first. I am so so sorry.  
BUT, I have autumn break in a week and I hope to get around and do some writing then. so please be patient.  
I really enjoy all your comments and kudos and I'd hate to disappoint you.  
In the mean time you might check out my other [AU on G9 ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15965489/chapters/37237607)I started (because I couldn't fucking contain myself and also I am trash and bad at finishing shit) BUT I WILL FINISH THIS I PROMISE!!

Take care, hydrate and I'll see you soon <3

**Author's Note:**

> Whew look at that rollercoaster (GAVIN STOP BEING A DICK!!)  
> I LITERALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM GOING WITH THIS BUT I AM HOOKED  
> i will try to update asap. I hope you are as intrigued as I am  
> also: again, if there are any mistakes feel free to tell me, as I am taking this as an opportunity to impove.


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